Ragout:
30ml vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, finely diced
500g cubed beef
50ml tomato paste
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomato
30ml Worcestershire sauce
30ml thyme leaves
500ml beef stock
Polenta Baby Dutch Pancake:
45ml butter
3 eggs
150ml cake flour
30ml polenta
a pinch of salt
For the ragout:
Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion and carrot. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then.
Add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute.
Add the beef and cook until browned.
Add the tomato paste, chopped tomato, Worcestershire sauce and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes.
Pour in the stock and bring the beef to a low simmer.
Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and you have beautifully tender beef covered in a thick sauce.
For the Baby Dutch:
Preheat your oven to 220℃.
Add the butter to a cast iron frying pan of about 24cm diameter and place the pan in the oven to heat up.
Add all the ingredients to a food processor or a suitable container for a stick blender and blend until the batter is completely smooth.
Open the oven door, swirl the hot butter around and up the sides of the pan and immediately pour the batter into the pan.
Close the door and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Do not open the door before 20 minutes, the pancake won’t rise!!
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer it to a serving plate.
Spoon the ragout into the pancake and add some tomato and fresh spinach leaves on top.
Serve with a glass of crisp white wine.
My Whisk and I 