frugal foodie

My menu plan's still going along swimmingly - yay. Today, after running alongside my daughter who rode to school, I came home and chopped up food for the slow-cooker. On the menu tonight is veal ragu {because veal steaks were super-reduced - cheaper than chuck steak!}. This recipe is based on a wild boar ragu Jamie Oliver cooked on his Italian Adventure. Using white wine gives it a milder flavour than the traditional red wine - I reckon that veal and white wine are perfectly married {I used chardonnay because there was a bottle in the fridge with a glass left in it. Yeah, I don't know how that happened either...}

Veal Ragu in the slow cooker:

600 grams of veal steak, diced

2 sticks celery, diced

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

4 cloves garlic, sliced

3 bay leaves

4 slices of bacon or pancetta, diced or cubed

700g passata

1 cup white wine

Throw all the meat and veg into your slow cooker and then brown bacon in a pan. Throw bacon on top of meat and veg, and deglaze the pan with the wine. Pour in passata and then wine over the top and give it a stir. Cover tightly with a sheet of baking paper, pop on the lid and cook on low for around 6 - 8 hours. Feel like the best cook ever.

Serve over strips of pasta topped with parmesan shavings.