Meat stew

🍆 Beef stew thickened with cooked and blended aubergines, tomatoes and onion, without pre-frying.

Ingredients

• 700 g stewing beef in 3 cm cubes
• 400 g food-grade garden eggs or purple aubergine flesh, diced
• 300 g chopped tomatoes
• 150 g sliced onion
• 20 g tomato paste
• 1 litre drinking water, more hot water if needed
• Small piece chilli optional
• Up to ½ tsp salt and pepper

Preparation

Cut beef evenly. Wash aubergines, remove stems and dice. Put beef in pan with one litre water and little salt.

Bring to gentle simmer ten minutes. Add aubergines and optional chilli, partly cover and simmer twenty minutes.

Add onion and tomatoes, simmer twenty more minutes until vegetables tender, watching water level.

Lift vegetables out with slotted spoon; remove chilli as desired. Blend with a small ladle broth in a heatproof container, avoiding splashes. Never seal boiling liquid in a small airtight blender.

Return vegetable puree with tomato paste. Simmer about forty minutes or longer until beef tender. Add little hot water as needed.

Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Four portions of beef and sauce with separate accompaniment. No added oil in this adaptation.