Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients for  2  Servings

• 350g

  Rump steak, visible fat trimmed
• 150g

  Chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1

  Large onion, finely sliced
• 3

  Garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 400ml

  Beef stock
• 60g

  Cornichons or small gherkins, sliced
• 75ml

  Half-fat crème fraîche
• 2 tbsp

  Tomato purée
• 1

  Beef stock cube
• 2 tsp

  Sweet smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp

  Dijon mustard
• 4 tbsp

  Parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp

  Dried onion flakes
• 1 tbsp

  Light olive oil
• -

  Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• To Serve

• 160g

  Basmati or long grain rice, freshly cooked

Approximate Times

• Preparation :

  Less than 30 minutes
• Cooking :

  10 to 30 minutes

Method

1. Heat the light olive oil in a large frying pan over a low–medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently for 10 minutes, or until softened and starting to caramelise.
2. Stir in the garlic and cook gently for 2 minutes. Crumble in the stock cube and stir in the paprika and tomato purée. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the beef stock, mushrooms and mustard. Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer for 10–15 minutes, or until the volume of liquid has reduced by half.
3. Meanwhile, place a griddle pan over a high heat. Bash the steaks between two sheets of cling film, until about 5mm thick. Brush each side with oil and season with salt and pepper. When the griddle is smoking hot, add the steaks and cook for 1 minute on each side. Remove and set aside to rest.
4. Once the sauce has reduced, remove from the heat and stir through the cornichons, crème fraîche, and most of the parsley (reserving some for garnishing). Stir in the juices from the resting meat and check the seasoning. Cut the meat into thick slices and stir into the sauce.
5. Mix together the dried onion flakes and reserved chopped parsley. Serve the stroganoff sprinkled with the onion and herb mix, with the rice on the side, if you like.