Slow Cooker Sunday Stew

Ingredients:

Stew

• 4 thick slices of bacon
• 2 tbsp. premium flour
• 900 g of beef for stewing, cut into 2.5 cm cubes.
• 2 medium onions, quartered, root end left intact
• 280 g of pureed champignons
• 4 medium carrots, cut into 5cm pieces.
• 4 medium red potatoes, unpeeled, cut into quarters
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 jalapeño, halved lengthwise and partially seeded
• 1 cup of beer
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• About 2 cups beef broth
• 2 sprigs of fresh parsley
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• Noodles in butter with lemon and parsley (see recipe below), for serving
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, for serving

Noodles in butter with lemon and parsley

• 450 g pasta (fettuccine, linguine or capellini)
• 55 g butter
• 2 tbsp. l. olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Preparation:

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, 8-10 minutes. Set aside. Drain off any excess fat, reserving about 2 tablespoons of fat in the skillet.
2. Place flour, a little salt, and black pepper in a zip-lock plastic bag and add the beef. Stir to thoroughly coat the pieces of meat with flour. Heat the rendered bacon fat in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef to the pan and fry in two batches until browned on all sides, 4-5 minutes per batch.
3. Place the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the beef, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, garlic, and jalapeño. Season with salt and pepper. Chop the cooked bacon into large pieces and sprinkle on top.
4. Pour the beer into a pitcher, stir in the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce, and then pour everything into the slow cooker. Add enough beef broth to just cover the meat and top with sprigs of parsley and rosemary. Cover and simmer on low for 6 hours.
5. Serve the meat stew with buttery lemon-parsley noodles and sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon parsley per serving.

6. Noodles in butter with lemon and parsley:

   
   Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions. If using angel hair pasta, drain just before al dente. Drain and set aside.
7. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter, then add the olive oil. Stir in the parsley, garlic, and lemon zest. Add the pasta and cook, stirring and coating with the sauce, until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes. Add the lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and black pepper and stir again.
   
   

   Note

   
   If the stew is too greasy, carefully remove the vegetables and meat from the broth. Strain the liquid and skim off any fat from the surface, then return the meat and vegetables to the sauce.