Beef Stew with Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients

• 800 g beef (shoulder)
• 4 Carrots
• 2 onions
• 1 Garlic clove
• 2 tbsp Rapeseed oil
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 2 Bay leaves
• 400 ml meat broth
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 tsp sweet paprika powder
• 1 pinch ground cumin
• 1 kg white asparagus
• 1 pinch raw cane sugar
• 1 splash Lemon juice
• 2 shallots
• 3 tbsp butter (15 g) + 1 tbsp for the pan
• 120 ml Vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp cornstarch (15 g)
• 200 ml cooking cream (15% fat)
• 3 tbsp chopped herbs (5 g each; e.g., parsley, chervil, tarragon)
• 2 Spring Onions
• 5 tbsp whole-grain breadcrumbs (10 g)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Clean the beef, pat dry and cut into larger pieces. Peel, wash, halve or quarter carrots lengthwise and cut into chunks. Peel and chop onions and garlic.

2. 2.

   Heat oil in a stew pot. Brown the meat on all sides over high heat for 4–5 minutes. Add onions, garlic, tomato paste, carrots, bay leaves and broth; season with salt, pepper, paprika and cumin. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1½ hours until the beef is tender; add more broth if needed.

3. 3.

   Meanwhile, clean, peel and trim the asparagus ends, wash the spears and steam in salted water with sugar and lemon juice for 15 minutes until firm.

4. 4.

   Peel and chop shallots. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a pot. Sauté shallots over medium heat, deglaze with vegetable broth and bring to boil. Whisk in cornstarch with 2 tbsp cooking cream until smooth; add remaining cream, simmer for about 5 minutes and thicken. Stir in 2 tbsp herbs, salt and pepper.

5. 5.

   Trim spring onions, wash and slice into thin rings. Place asparagus in a buttered dish, spread sauce and spring onion rings over it. Mix breadcrumbs with remaining herbs and scatter the rest of the butter in small piles on top. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 °C (180 °C fan) for 20–25 minutes until golden.

6. 6.

   Serve the roasted asparagus atop the beef stew, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.