Pot roasted beef, perfumed with herbs and with a sauce flavoured heavily by the presence of porcini mushroom. Strangely, they smell not unlike marmite (which I loath) and impart a flavour that is more akin to a good beef consommé (which I love). They are strong, so although rather expensive they redeem themselves by going a long way. I always add a few to the stock pot to give not only taste but the added bonus of rich colour.

With the vegetables cooking in the pot too, the resulting sauce for your beef and mash is packed with flavour. If your pot lid is very efficient you may wish to reduce the sauce a little, but don’t spoil it by trying to bring it down to a thick gravy.

Ingredients - serves 4

1kg beef roasting joint
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic
handful of dried porcini mushrooms soaked in 100ml warm water
8 shallots, peeled
2 leeks, trimmed and washed
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
300ml Italian red wine
3 tbsp tomato purée
sprig of thyme
sprig of rosemary
2 bay leaves
salt, pepper

4 medium potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks
1/2 medium celeriac, peeled & cut into large dice
butter
salt, pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C
In a heavy casserole, brown the beef on all sides in the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Throw in the cloves of garlic, herbs and wine and bring to the boil before placing on a tight lid and transferring to the oven for 1 hr 15 minutes.

Remove the lid, add the vegetables, porcini, and the soaking liquid. Stir in the tomato purée and return to a simmer before placing back in the oven for a further 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Rest the meat for 10 minutes in a warm place before carving. Discard the herbs.

Once the vegetables have been added to the pot roast you can cook the potatoes and celeriac in boiling salted water. Drain and mash with butter then season to taste.

Divide the mash and vegetables between four warmed plates and serve slices of beef roast over them with copious amounts of rich porcini sauce.