Beef bourguignon or is French people favorite beef stew made out of a lot of red wine, bacon bits, mushrooms, carrots, onions and aromatics. This version comes with a twist; it is Served on pasta instead of potatoes, Because why not?
Beef Bourguignon pasta or on spaghetti is a “mashup” dish between France beloved ‘Boeuf Bourguignon‘ which is served with potatoes and Italian Ragu pasta. I like potatoes… but my husband not so much… so he always ask me to make his boeuf bourguignon on pasta. I have to agree with him on this; with pasta and a little extra parmesan, it’s gives the dish a whole new dimension. Plus, the pasta soak up all the goodness from the stew better than potatoes.
But either ways, the base of the recipe stays the same; braised beef cubes in a dutch oven cooked slowly in a red wine sauce. So you decide which between pasta or potatoes makes you salivate more.
Spanish Picada
To add a touch of freshness, I’ve had my little Spanish touch by making a “picada” (*optional last minutes seasoning) with parsley, garlic and olive oil just to give it this last kick. It’s a really common thing to do to any stews in Spain, to add a little last fresh touch. Sometimes they use almond, or walnuts which no only give this lovely nutty touch to a stew but also thickens it. In my opinion, this bring any stew to another level but totally optional.
The beef cubes
The beef cubes, I’ve bought, were pre-cut quite small, about 2-3cm large which isn’t ideal (in pictures), try to get bigger cubes of 5 cm, then when you’ll go in for a bite you’ll see the tender beef cubes fall apart and that experience brings so much more appeal to the dish. Also, another important part is to season well your meat before cooking.
Make sure the pan or pot you use is hot enough in the beginning. Common mistake: to put too many pieces at the time. Another trick to nail your meat, resist the urge of moving the cubes too early while searing.
So let’s make that tender and aromatic beef stew the French cannot get enough of!
Beef Bourguignon Pasta
Ingredients
- 400 g beef cubes (4-5cm thick)
- 100 g fresh bacon (bits)
- 500 ml red wine
- 250 g button mushrooms (cut into quarters)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 carrots (sliced)
- 1 onion (or 8 pearled onion)
- 1 garlic clove (finely chopped)
- 1 Bouquet garni ((eq. thyme, laurel, pepper, clove))
- salt and pepper
The picada *optional (goes at the end of coccion)
- a few flat leaf parsley
- 1/2 a garlic clove
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven, bring to high heat.
- Season the meat
- When hot, add the olive oil and the beef, sear each side of the beef cubes until light brown
- When the cubes are almost done, add the bacon for a min
- Then cover lightly with flour over the meat and a touch more of olive oil
- Let cook the flour for a minute
- Add the red wine and mix well making sure the bottom is well scratched with a wooden spoon
- Add the onion, carrots, garlic, bouquet garni and bring to a boil
- Cover and turn the heat to low (or in the oven at 170°C (340F°)
- Let simmer slowly for about 2 hours
- Add the mushrooms 30 minutes before the end of cooking
- Season with salt, pepper
- *Make the optional “picada” with all it’s ingredients in a mortar, add to the beef bourguignon 2 minutes before the end of cooking
Notes
Nutrition
