Beef Stew & Spinach Dumplings

This recipe is perfect as a Sunday night dish as it takes next to no time to prepare and just needs to simmer away on the stove. It is also worth allowing the extra time to take the meat off of the bone but do build this into your time.

Ingredients

For the Stew·

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 4 tsp Asafoetida
• 5 tbsp Sugar
• A few Cloves (or a few pinches of ground cloves)
• 500ml Good Quality Ale (use gluten free ale if you need it to be gluten free)
• 1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
• ½ tsp Chipotle Chilli Powder
• ½ tsp Paprika
• 1 x 400g Can of Plum Tomatoes
• 2kg Oxtail
• Salt and Pepper
• 3 Carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 sticks of Celery, roughly chopped
• 2 large sprigs of fresh Rosemary, leaves picked off
• 2 fresh Bay Leaves (or 4 dried ones)
• 2 tsp English Mustard

For the Dumplings

• 200g Baby Spinach
• 75g Margarine (check for allergens)
• 500g Gluten-free Self Raising Flour
• 2 tsp Xantham Gum
• 1 heaped tsp Mustard Powder
• ½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Utensils·

• Very large pan, with lid
• Small pan
• Food Processor

Method​

1. Heat the oil in the small pan, over a medium heat, and add in the asafoetida. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until it is a golden colour. Take off the heat and leave to cool.
2. In your large pan heat the sugar and cloves, over a medium heat. When the sugar starts to caramelise, around the edges, add in the ale, vinegar, fish sauce, chilli powder, paprika and tinned tomatoes. Bring it to the boil and add in the oxtail. Give it a mix and season well.
3. Put the carrots, celery, oil/asafoetida, bay leaves and rosemary into the food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
4. Add the vegetable/herb mixture from the food processor to the large pot, stir and cover with a tightly fitting lid. Turn the heat down low and simmer slowly for 4-5 hours stirring occasionally (you may need to move it onto a smaller ring). It is done when the meat comes away from the bone easily.
5. You can now either leave the bones in there or be like me and pick all the meat off (watch your fingers though, as it will be rather hot). This makes for a nicer stew to eat but will add an additional 15-20 minutes onto the preparation time. Leave the stew on whilst you prepare the dumplings.
6. To make the dumplings, in a clean food processor, put in the spinach and pulse until finally chopped then add in the rest of the ingredients until you have a fine crumb. Add in 100ml water (or up to 50ml more, if needed) and pulse again until everything comes together into an elastic dough. Dust a clean surface with flour and roll the dough out into a sausage. Then divide this into circa 30 small dumpling or about 12 larger ones, rolling each one into a ball.
7. Add 50ml of water and the mustard to the stew, stir. Put the dumplings into the pan. Put the lid back on and cook for 25-30 minutes for small dumplings or 40-45 minutes for larger ones). You can tell when they are done as they will be plumped up and fluffy on the inside (you may need to test one by cutting it open). They will also be a bright green, from the spinach. Serve