I have made this once before, but wasn't too happy with the result. This time it was perfect. I cooked it in the slow cooker, popped it in the fridge overnight and then the next day I brought it to the boil on the hob and then cooked the stew again for a few hours in the slow cooker.
HOW TO EAT BY NIGELLA LAWSON
ISBN 0701165766 - Page 108
Serves: 10 people but the recipe can easily be scaled down.
Skill Level: Easy
Taste Test: The meat was meltingly tender and the sauce was luscious.
It is important to lightly brown the meat and not to make the meat too crusty. The onions really do need some long slow cooking on the hob before adding them to the stew pot - use Nigella's tip and sprinkle the onions whilst they are cooking with salt and this stops them browning, remember this isn't a brown stew and so caramelized onions are not what you are after here, but soft and translucent.
For the wine I used a chardonnay and this seemed to be perfect for the sauce, perhaps my choice of wine was wrong last time and hence I wasn't too happy with the end result.
Nigella suggests using ditalini pasta but I couldn't get hold of this and so used festoni pasta from Waitrose. The pasta should be stirred into the stew at the end, but I chose to serve the pasta separately.
The feta cheese mixed with parsley, was crumbled over the top, and melted into the stew beautifully. Don't be tempted to leave out the cheese and parsley, otherwise you will be disappointed with the end result. I served the stew with some sundried tomato bread.
Kitchen Equipment Used: Slow Cooker.
