Sunday
Spanish oxtail stew with chorizo
All the flavours of the Med are in this rich dish. Oxtail browned with chorizo, smoked paprika and Robertsons steak seasoning, then three long hours in the oven with balsamic, beef stock, cherry tomatoes and rosemary until the meat gives way completely. It comes to the table with carrots in the pot and bright stir-fried savoy cabbage alongside.
Woolworths sells the best oxtail — buy it there and the pot is half done before you start. And watch the onions: softened, not browned. A few minutes is genuinely all they need before the vinegar and tomatoes do the rest.
Method
- 01
Heat the oven to 150°C.
- 02
Heat half of the olive oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish, and fry the oxtail and chorizo with the steak seasoning and paprika for 5 minutes to brown evenly. Remove and reserve.
- 03
Then heat the rest of the oil and fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes until softened, but not browned.
- 04
Tip in the oxtail, chorizo, vinegar, stock, tomatoes, rosemary and carrots. Cover and cook for 3 hours in the oven, until the meat is really tender.
- 05
Serve with stir-fried savoy cabbage.
In the glass
A glass of something Spanish and red
This wants a Rioja or a Tempranillo — ripe fruit and soft tannin to stand up to the chorizo and balsamic without going flat against the tomatoes. A Cap Classique works as the opener while the pot is still in the oven. Whatever it is, pour it before the meat comes off the bone, because that is the hour this dish is really for.
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