You know how much I love comfort food.

Beef stew is a British staple. Hearty, tender beef with sweet carrots, leeks and parsnips, served under a cloud of mashed potato.

For four-six people, you will need:

A small joint of beef
About 6 carrots
1 red onion
4 leeks
Good quality stock
Potatoes
Parsnips

First of all, drizzle your beef joint in olive oil and pop it in the oven.

While that’s cooking, prep your veg! Starting with the potatoes…

Chop them up into quarters and boil in a large saucepan.

Peel your parsnips and cut them into generous batons before roasting them in the oven.

Now, onto the carrots. Peel and chop into batons and finely chop the leeks.

Finely chop the red onion and fry it in a little olive oil in a deep saucepan.

Once soft and transparent, add the prepared leeks and carrots…

And cover with boiling water. Add 3 teaspoons of stock.

Don’t forget your beef. After about half an hour of cooking, take it out and turn it carefully before popping it back into the oven.

Check your potatoes and drain them and keep them covered for a bit.

After about an hour of cooking (depending on size!) your beef should be well done. Chop it into cubes…

And add it to the big saucepan, topping up with a little extra boiling water and stock if you need to! Don’t forget the parsnips.

Mash the potatoes into fluffy peaks (I cannot recommend one of these Kenwood mini blenders enough!)

Your stew should be perfect – rich and flavoursome within about 20 mins of simmering nicely together.

Mouthwatering stew, mashed potato as light as air and crispy parsnips. What more could you ask for? (For pudding, why not go for this, Dreamy Chocolate Sponge pudding?)