Smoked paprika goulash for the slow cooker

This is a very rich and flavourful slow cooker stew with a thick, red, smoky tasting sauce. Great for making a day ahead and reheating. Instead of pasta, you can serve over rice or potatoes.

Ingredients

Serves: 8

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

4 tablespoons smoked Hungarian paprika

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1.25kg lean beef stewing steak, cubed

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

375ml water

175g tomato puree

350g egg pasta

125ml soured cream (optional)

8 sprigs fresh parsley (optional)

method

Cook: 5 hours

1.Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook and stir onions until they soften and begin to brown at the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Transfer mixture to a slow cooker. Cover and set cooker to Low.

2.Mix together paprika, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss the meat cubes in the paprika mixture until evenly coated.

3.Heat one tablespoon of the oil in the same pan over medium-high heat. Put 1/3 of the beef cubes into the pan and cook until nicely browned on all sides. Transfer to the slow cooker. Pour 2 tablespoons of water into the pan and scrape the browned bits from the pan; pour liquid into the slow cooker. This prevents the paprika from burning when you brown the next batches of beef. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and cook the next batch the same way; repeat for the third batch.

4.Stir the tomato puree and the rest of the water into the slow cooker; cover. Cook on High for 4 to 5 hours (or on Low for 6 to 9 hours).

5.Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Stir in the egg pasta, and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the noodles have cooked through, but are still firm to the bite, about 5 minutes. Drain.

6.Serve goulash over pasta with a dollop of soured cream and a sprig of parsley.