Slow Cooked Beef Casserole

1. Cut stewing beef into 3cm pieces and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat and brown the beef pieces. We recommend you do this in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan.
3. Transfer browned beef to a slow cooker along with the carrots (peeled and cut into chunks). Pour over the Barker’s Delicious Hearty Casserole Meal Sauce. Add half a cup water to the jar, shake to combine and set aside.
4. Heat the same frying pan to medium, stir fry the mushrooms (halved or quartered) and paprika for 1 minute then add the water from the jar. Scrape up any of the flavoursome goodness stuck to the bottom of the pan, then pour over the beef in your slow cooker.
5. Set the slow cooker to high and cook for 4-5* hours.
6. Serve over mashed potato or noodles.
7. *Slow cookers can vary so adjust our guide accordingly to suit yours.

Tips

1. To add extra flavour to your mashed potato, try mixing through 1-2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard or horseradish sauce just before serving.
2. If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can create this recipe by cooking it in a heavy based casserole dish with a lid on in an oven at 160°C oven for 2 ½ - 3 hours. Check it from time to time and top up with extra water or stock if required.
3. For a speedy version, choose a quick-cooking beef cut such as rump and thinly slice. Stir-fry the beef in oil in a hot fry pan then set aside. Slice the carrots into 0.5cm slices and add to the frying pan, along with the mushrooms, and stir-fry for 2-3minutes before adding the paprika and stir-frying a further minute. Add the meal sauce, add ¼ cup of water to the jar and shake to combine then add to the pan. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the carrots are tender, then add the beef back into the pan and heat through before serving.
4. For a vegetarian version, replace beef with your favourite beans – canned beans for a speedy version or dried if slow cooking – but remember to add more water or stock if using dried beans in your slow cooker.