Low and slow, luxury braised beef in red wine with pasta £0.85p per head, plus a lasagna option

Beef and red wine are obvious bed fellows.

The price of the wine (a Basics range bottle) is justified for us as only one glass is necessary for this portion size and the rest keeps for other dishes on other days.  Remember, we like our food and I love cooking frugally, but not in miserly fashion.  This meal will stretch to four servings.

This is a basic braise of shin of beef, which we found marked down (YS) with a glass of wine in the stock.  Once cooked to meltingly tender and shredible it's piled over pasta.  This would be a brilliant meal in winter with mash or a jacket potato but lightens up significantly over pasta for a summertime supper as it was served today.

What's your favourite way to make a winter staple more summery? Let me know I'd love to try!

Serves 4 (we eat half and keep half for another supper dish)

Ingredients:

1. 0.5kg Shin of beef, cut into large cubes (YS to £1.89p)
2. 100ml glass of wine (Sainsburys Basics at £3.45p per bottle = £0.46p per 100ml - roughly £0.69p)
3. 1 tbsp of marjoram, chopped (free from garden)
4. Four sticks of thyme, leave whole for a rustic look or remove the leaves (free from garden)
5. Bunch of flat leaved parsley, finely chopped (free from garden)
6. Half a pack of Basics chopped tomatoes (£0.08.8p per 100g, so £0.18p)
7. 1 Basics beef stock cube (£0.04p) 
8. S&P (£0.02)
9. Basics lasagna sheets or dried spaghetti (250g = £0.17p)
10. 800ml cold water
11. 1 tbsp Basics honey (20g = £0.17p)
12. 1 onion, chopped (19 onions in Basics bag = £0.05p each)
13. 2 cloves of garlic, chopped (£0.06p)
14. 1 large carrot in chunks (£0.10p)
15. 1 stick of celery, chopped (£0.04p)
16. 1 tbsp duck fat (this was left over and kept from the rubber duck so I'm counting it as free)
17. Optional: flour or cornflour to thicken (I let mine braise for longer to thicken up), Italian style cheese to serve, 2tsp tomato paste/puree for a more tomatoey sauce

Cost analysis for the beef with pasta = £3.41p or £0.85p per serving (costs are rounded up)

There you have it, a luxury meal for £0.85p per head, not bad!

Cooks tip:  To stretch this further add more carrots and onions.

Method:

Firstly, in a deep frying pan or wide saucepan brown the beef in the oil until it's very brown on both sides then set aside in aluminium foil whilst you get on with browning the onion, celery and carrots.

Next, add the garlic and twigs of thyme and then in with the red wine.  Bring up to the boil then add the water and other herbs and the honey.  Bring up to simmering point again and add the beef.

At this point you need to check the seasoning and add S&P to taste then either put it all into a slow
cooker on low for 6-8 hours or continue to simmer very slowly for 2 hours over a low heat on the hob.  If the sauce is not thick enough you can either add a roux (soft butter and flour mixture) or cornflour to thicken or sieve the sauce into a shallow pan and boil rapidly until it's the desired consistency.  I left mine to cook on low for 10 hours then got in there with a fork and mashed the soft carrot down into the meat sauce.

Once the beef is tender and falling to pieces you can serve immediately over your favourite pasta or, what I sometimes do, chill and refrigerate overnight then make into a gorgeous lasagna the next day as the flavours really develop overnight.

Although the cost analysis will increase slightly lasagna is a substantial and popular meal and the sauce is perfect for the job.  To make a lasagna you will need to gently reheat the beef and shred it a bit, then make a white sauce of equal parts butter and flour with milk added, whisk gently until simmering point (or simply use creme fraiche).  Layer the beef and lasagna into an enamelled or ceramic deep roasting tray then top with the sauce and grated cheese and a bit of grated nutmeg if you wish.  Oven bake for 30 minutes at 200C then check the top is bubbling and browned.   Serve with a green salad.