Ingredients

1 kg chuck, blade or rump steak, cut into 2 cm dice

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

1 litre tomato passata

½ tablespoon cumin seeds, dry-roasted and ground

½ tablespoon coriander seeds,dry-roasted and ground

¼ cup olive oil

4 red peppers

2 onions, finely diced

6 garlic cloves, crushed

2 long red chillies, thinly sliced

1 litre tomato passata

2 cups beef or chicken stock

½ cup red wine

1 cup basil leaves

1 cup coriander leaves

Cornbread topping

2 cups self-raising flour

1 cup fine polenta

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

4 eggs

300 g cooked corn kernels

2 tablespoons olive oil

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Place the diced beef into a large mixing bowl with the spices, salt and pepper and toss well so it is all evenly coated.

Heat half the oil in a large, heavy-based casserole over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, brown the beef in batches, so that the heat stays high. Transfer the browned beef to a plate.

Halve the peppers lengthwise and rub them all over with a little more of the olive oil. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and slice away the seeds and pith. Chop roughly and place in a processor. Blitz on high to form a rough purée.

Add the rest of the oil to the casserole and lower the heat. Add the onion, garlic and chillies and sauté gently for 5 minutes, or until the onion starts to soften.

Return the beef to the casserole and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato passata, puréed peppers, stock and wine and bring to the boil. Transfer the casserole to the oven, and cook, covered, for 2 hours. The ragù can be prepared for this stage ahead of time.

When ready to eat, preheat the oven to 200°C. Stir the fresh basil and coriander into the ragù and pour it into a large gratin dish.

To make the cornbread topping, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the milk, eggs, oil and corn in a separate bowl, then stir into the dry ingredients to make a thick yellow batter.

Spread the batter over the chilli beef and bake for 30 minutes until the topping is risen and golden and the chilli beef underneath is bubbling.

Serves 4 hungry men

Download this podcast here