Beef and Vegie Casserole with Cheese Dumplings

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 600g beef chuck steak, fat trimmed, cut into 3cm pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500ml (2 cups) beef stock
• 1 400g can Italian diced tomatoes
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt
• 2 carrots, peeled, roughly chopped
• 1 large potato, peeled, roughly chopped
• 55g (1/3 cup) frozen peas

• Cheese dumplings

• 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
• 30g (1 1/2 tbs) butter, chilled, cubed
• 35g (1/3 cup) coarsely grated cheddar
• 1 tbs chopped fresh chives
• 5 tbs milk

Method

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over high heat. Add a third of the beef and cook, tossing, for 2-3 minutes or until brown. Set aside and repeat with remaining beef in 2 batches. Return all beef to pan. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the stock, tomatoes, thyme and bay leaves, and season with salt. Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to very low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender.
2. Add the carrots and potato to the pan and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are just tender.
3. Meanwhile, to make cheese dumplings, place flour in a medium bowl. Rub in butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in cheddar and chives. Add milk and use a knife to mix with a cutting motion until mixture comes together. Use your hands to bring dough together and place on a clean surface. Divide evenly into 8 portions and roll each portion into a ball.
4. Stir the peas into the casserole and top with the dumplings in a single layer. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the dumplings comes out clean. Serve warm.