Daube of Beef and Vegetables Provencale

Serves 4-6

· 600 g Braising beef
· 125g lean smoked bacon
· 175g carrots, chopped
· 150g onions, chopped
· 2 red peppers, diced
· 400g canned chopped tomatoes
· 2 sticks celery, sliced
· 2 cloves garlic, crushed
· 2 bay leaves
· 4 strips orange zest
· 2 small sprigs of fresh rosemary
· 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
· 2 tablespoons tomato puree
· 300ml beef stock
· 150ml red wine
· 4 canned anchovy fillets, drained, dried and chopped
· 225g button mushrooms
· 75g stoned black olives
· 4 tablespoons chopped parsley
· Black pepper

1. Heat the oven to 150ºC. Remove any excess fat and gristle from the beef and cut into 4cm cubes. Trim the bacon of fat and dice it.
2. Put the beef and bacon into a large flameproof casserole and add the carrots, onions, red peppers, canned tomatoes, celery, garlic, bay leaves, orange zest, rosemary, thyme, tomato puree, stock and wine. Bring to the boil, cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours.
3. Stir in the anchovies, mushrooms, olives and parsley, reserving a little for the garnish, then season with black pepper to taste (the anchovies will provide enough salt). Cover and cook for a further 1 hour. Check the seasoning, sprinkle with the reserved parsley and serve with mashed potatoes.