This for two people. I happened to have a scant pound of braising steak so I decided to loosely follow an online recipe for Italian beef stew (cheers, Vincenzo!).

Make a soffritto with carrots, onions and celery (as ever) with extra virgin olive oil. Don't cut the veg up too small. You want texture in the stew. Ten minutes' cooking.

Cut your beef (about 400g) into bite size pieces. Stir-fry it with the soffritto for a few minutes, to brown all round.

Add a tablespoon of plain flour and stir for a couple of minutes.

Whack up the heat and add a glass of red wine - keep stirring.

Add about 350 ml of passata or your own tomato sauce. Keep stirring.

Season, then add about 350ml veg stock. I always make my own with onions, celery, carrots, peppercorns, thyme and bay. Simmer for at least two and a half hours. Add a small stick of fresh rosemary.

After one hour, peel a pound or more of spuds, cut into quite big chunks and add to the broth. Discard the rosemary.

Apart from checking the seasoning, you're done. I made this the day before and it was delicious. I did think it wasn't going to work out as a stew because it seemed to be too tomatoey and full of rosemary needles. Ut, begod, it was a triumph, and what a winter dish!