This beef stew and dumplings fills your kitchen with a warm, inviting aroma, and for me brings back memories of family gatherings. The slow cooking of the beef transforms the initially tough, chewy beef into one that is moist, juicy and fork-tender. And everyone will be clamoring over the homemade rosemary dumplings which steam on the surface of the stew. A full meal in one pot!
2cupsRed wineMerlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, or your fav
4tablespoonsTomato paste
2teaspoonsFennel seeds
4cupsBeef stock
Rosemary Dumplings
2cupsAll-purpose flour
2teaspoonsBaking powder
2teaspoonsFresh rosemaryfinely chopped
1teaspoonSalt
1cupMilk
3tablespoonsOlive oil
Instructions
Trim excess fat from the beef and cut into 1-2" cubes. Season with salt and pepper.
Coat all the cubed beef with all-purpose flour, making sure to coat all side and shaking off any excess.
Heat a Dutch oven or frypan over medium high heat. Add the vegetable oil, and when it is hot add the flour coated beef. Make sure to not overcrowd the pan, you will have to work in batches, see Note 1. Flip meat over once browned and continue searing until most of the edges have been seared. Remove the beef to a bowl and set aside. If using a frypan and casserole dish place the seared beef in the casserole dish and set aside. You may have to add more oil to prevent burning between batches.
Preheat oven to 375F
Bring the Dutch oven or frypan back up to temperature on medium-high heat. Add in the chopped carrots, celery, and onion. Sauté for about 5 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. The moisture from the vegetables will begin to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Scrape up any brown bits while sauteing.
Add in the wine. If there are still brown bits on the bottom of the pan use this moisture to scrape these all up - they will add lots of flavor to the stew.
If using a casserole dish and frypan, add in the tomato paste, and fennel seeds. Stir together and bring back to a boil over medium - high heat. Pour this mixture over the meat in the casserole dish and then pour the beef stock into the casserole dish - cover with a lid or tinfoil.If using a Dutch oven, add the tomato paste, fennel seeds, and beef stock to the vegetables and red wine in the Dutch oven. Bring back to a boil with stirring. Add the seared meat and any juices left behind. Place the lid on the pot.Place the covered casserole dish or Dutch oven in the oven for 1 hour.
At the 1 hour mark begin preparing the rosemary dumplings. Combine the flour, baking powder, chopped rosemary, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Once combined, pour in the milk and olive oil. Mix to a soft dough. This dough is usually a little bit wet, but that is normal.
Spoon drop the dumpling dough onto the top of the beef stew, such that you have approximately 12 dumplings.Put the lid back on the Dutch oven and continue baking in the oven for another 20 minutes. Dumplings should be light and fluffy when cut open.
Enjoy your beef stew and dumplings!
Notes
When searing meat, you don't want to overcrowd your pan, or the meat will end up steaming instead of searing and you won't get the same flavor base for your stew.
If you want to try a different meat to beef, I have also done this recipe with leg of lamb and it was amazing. I haven't tried it with a pork roast, but I bet it would be good too!
Deglazing the fry pan or Dutch oven helps to clean your pan and it brings in so much flavor from all the browned meat bits.
If you don't have red wine, you could just use more beef stock. It will still be good, but you will lose the depth of flavor the red wine brings. Not much alcohol is actually left after an hour of cooking.
Keyword beef stew and dumplings, beef stew with dumplings, Dutch oven beef stew, Dutch oven stew recipe