The thought of walking through the front door after a hard day’s work or training, smelling what can only be described as the inside of your granny’s house (if of course, she was Hungarian) is enough to banish away even the Mondayest of Mondays.
Sometimes we all need a bit of comfort in our lives, and this no-fuss goulash will give you that feel good factor without expanding the waistline. This is slow cooked for up to 6 hours and the meat just falls apart and melts in the mouth – so you know it’s going to be good.
Recipe: Beef and chorizo goulash
Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 6 hours (in the slow cooker) | Serves: 6
Nutritional info per serving
Calories: 571 | Total fat: 33g | Carbs: 15g | Protein: 53g
Ingredients
- 2 x 400g cartons of passata
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 900g beef brisket, diced
- 200g chorizo, sliced
- 200g red lentils
- 2 onions, sliced
- 2 red peppers, sliced
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 beef stock pot made with 300ml water
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- Salt and pepper
- 100g natural yoghurt
- Handful fresh parsley
Method
- This is a no-nonsense recipe so we’re not going to spend any time messing about. The first thing to do is get the slow cooker and put it on its low heat. Add the passata, red lentils, beef stock, sliced onion, peppers and garlic.
- In a large deep frying pan or saucepan, add the vegetable oil on a medium heat. Add the diced beef and fry until browned and caramelised. The trick here is to not move the beef around too much – you want to almost burn the edges of the beef, so you get the sweet caramel flavours. (We did say almost though – keep an eye on it!)
- Once the beef is browned add to the slow cooker. In the same frying pan as you cooked the beef add the chorizo and fry until it has realised its oil, then add the paprika, chilli flakes and tomato puree and fry for another 2 minutes. Add this to the slow cooker.
- Leave to cook on a low heat for up to 6 hours.
- Just before you are ready to serve, season with salt and pepper and top the natural yoghurt and chopped parsley. Serve with your choice of side – potatoes, mash and rice all work well. Job done!
This is one of those recipes that can be thrown in the slow cooker in the morning and left until later in the day, so you don’t even have to think about what you’re going to have for dinner. It takes about 20 minutes to prepare – remember the trick to successful, quick cooking is to have all your ingredients ready to go before you start.
In the picture, it is served with polenta mash but goes great on top of a jacket spud to bang in the microwave at work, pasta, rice, or a load of veg. The possibilities are endless. Whatever you decide to have with it, as it contains over 50g of protein you will feel fuller for longer – and it will help to repair and strengthen those muscles you’re building.
