Slow Cooked Beef with Cannellini Beans and Cauliflower Mash

Winter has well and truly hit us in Melbourne.  It is, more often than not, cold and grey and wet.  It is good weather for staying indoors, snuggled up with a warm beverage, and for soups and stews and roasts and warm puddings.

Many winter foods, although comforting, can be a little unfriendly on the waistline.  Accordingly, when I spied a recipe for Slow Cooked Beef & White Beans with Cauliflower Mash in the June 2016 edition of Taste magazine, I was stoked.  It fulfils my need for warming, hearty food to ward off the cold, while remaining friendly on the calorie side (334 calories per serve).

Without further ado, here is the recipe (serves 8):

1 tbspn olive oil
800g diced blade steak
2 finely chopped red onions
4 finely chopped celery sticks
2 finely chopped carrots
4 thinly sliced garlic cloves
1 tbspn chopped fresh rosemary
250ml red wine
2 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes
1 tbspn balsamic vinegar
2 x 400g can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 large cauliflower divided into florets
2 tbspns milk
1 tbspn horseradish (I omitted this)
baby spinach leaves

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius.  Heat half of the oil in a casserole dish over high heat.  Brown the beef in  two batches in the hot oil, then remove from the pan and set aside.

Heat the rest of the oil in the casserole dish over medium heat.  Cook the onion, celery and carrot until soft.  Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for a further 2 minutes.  Add the beef and the wine to the casserole dish and simmer for 5 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half.  Add the tomatoes and vinegar and stir well, and bring the mixture to the boil.

Remove the casserole dish from the heat, cover, and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.  Add the cannellini beans to the dish, stir, and cook for a further 30-60 minutes in the oven until the beef is tender.

Cook the cauliflower in a saucepan of boiling water until soft, then put into a food processor with the milk and horseradish (if using) and process until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.

Serve the mash with the beef on top, and baby spinach leaves on the side (if desired).