Veal Stew with Apricots and Gratin Mash
A veal stew in the manner of a tagine: three hours over the lowest heat, with the sweetness of dried apricots and the bite of toasted hazelnuts, topped with a potato mash with mustard seeds that is browned in the oven. An elegant pot dish to cook slowly at the weekend.
The apricots and the hazelnuts go in only in the last five minutes. Braised for three hours the apricots would collapse and the nuts would lose their crunch — precisely the two qualities they are in the recipe for.
Ingredients
- 600 g veal ribs (or stewing meat)
- 30 g butter
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 leek, in fine rings
- 1 red onion, cut into pieces
- 100 ml beef stock
- 200 g dried apricots
- 200 g hazelnuts
- 400 g potatoes
- 250 ml pouring cream
- 3 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 400 g creamed spinach
- Salt, pepper, fresh oregano and olive oil
Method
- 1
Cut the meat into pieces and brown it in a pan with 15 g of the butter. Add the garlic, the leek and the onion; cook until the vegetables are tender and golden.
- 2
Add the stock and cook over very low heat for 3 hours. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the apricots and the hazelnuts.
- 3
Boil the potatoes until tender. Mash them and mix with the rest of the butter, the cream and the mustard to an even purée. Season.
- 4
Warm the creamed spinach. In individual dishes, build the layers: first the stewed meat, then a layer of spinach and finally the potato mash.
- 5
Brown in a hot oven for 10 minutes until coloured. Finish with fresh oregano and a thread of olive oil before serving.