Slow-Braised Beef Stifado with Pearl Onions, Cinnamon & Red Wine

⏱ 195 min · Serves 4

A Greek taverna classic: chunks of beef braised for hours until they collapse, in a glossy sauce sweetened with whole pearl onions and perfumed with cinnamon, clove and bay. Deep, sticky and warming — best mopped up with bread or spooned over orzo.

Per serving: 682 kcal · 56.0g protein · 30.0g carbs · 36.0g fat

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef chuck or shin, cut into 4cm chunks
• Salt and black pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 600 g pearl onions (or small shallots), peeled
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 250 ml dry red wine
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
• 300 ml beef stock
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Crusty bread or orzo, to serve

Method

1. Pat the beef dry and season generously. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a heavy casserole and brown the beef hard in batches, 3–4 minutes per side, until deeply crusted. Set aside.
2. To peel the pearl onions easily, cover with boiling water for 2 minutes, drain, then trim the root and slip off the skins.
3. Add the remaining oil to the pot and fry the pearl onions over medium heat for 6–8 minutes until golden in patches. Lift out and reserve.
4. Add the garlic to the pot for 30 seconds, then the tomato purée and cook for 1 minute until it darkens.
5. Pour in the wine and vinegar, scraping the base, and let it bubble for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock, cinnamon, cloves, bay, rosemary and sugar, then return the beef.
6. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook on the lowest heat (or at 160C/140C fan) for 1 hour 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Tuck in the pearl onions and the honey, then cook uncovered for a further 40–50 minutes until the beef is fork-tender and the sauce is thick and glossy. Add a splash of water if it tightens too much.
8. Fish out the cinnamon stick, cloves, bay and rosemary. Taste and adjust salt, and add a little more vinegar if it needs lift. Rest 10 minutes, scatter with parsley and serve with bread or orzo.