Recipes · Cypriot · Stews

Stifado (Cypriot Beef and Onion Stew with Wine and Cinnamon)

One serving has 759 kcal and 42 g protein, and at least a fifth of a woman's daily need of cobalamin (208%), zinc (164%), selenium (94%), pyridoxine (91%), niacin (75%) and phosphorus (67%). Ready in 170 minutes.

• Preparation: 20 min
• Cooking: 150 min
• Makes: 1 serving (669 g)
• Difficulty: Easy
• Diets: Dairy-free, High protein
• Contains: alcohol, beef, gluten, sulphite

Ingredients

• 170 g Beef chuck, for stewing
• 200 g Small onions (pearl onions or shallots), whole
• 15 g Olive oil
• 5 g Garlic
• 15 g Tomato paste
• 80 g Tomatoes, crushed (or grated fresh)
• 50 g Red wine
• 12 g Red wine vinegar
• 80 g Water
• 0.6 g Cinnamon stick
• 0.2 g Bay leaves
• 0.3 g Allspice berries
• 0.1 g Cloves
• 1 g Salt
• 0.2 g Black pepper
• 40 g Bread (a village loaf), to serve

Method

1. Cut the beef into large pieces, about 4 cm. Pour boiling water over the small onions, leave them for 2 minutes, then drain them and slip off their skins, leaving them whole.
2. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot and brown the beef on all sides over high heat for 8-10 minutes, in batches if needed. Lift it out.
3. Add the onions to the pot and fry them gently for 8-10 minutes, shaking the pot, until golden all over. Add the crushed garlic and the tomato paste and stir for 1 minute.
4. Return the beef, pour in the red wine and the vinegar and let them bubble for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the water, the cinnamon stick, the bay leaves, the allspice, the cloves, the salt and the pepper.
5. Cover tightly and simmer very gently for 2 hours, until the beef is very tender and the onions are soft but whole. Don’t stir: shake the pot now and then so the onions stay whole, and add a little water only if it starts to catch.
6. Uncover it for the last 15-20 minutes, so the sauce cooks down until thick, glossy and dark red. Take out the cinnamon stick and the bay leaves.
7. Serve hot, with bread for the sauce. Stifado is as much Cypriot as Greek, made with beef or with hare or rabbit, and always with about as many onions as meat.

Nutrition per serving

Shares of a day's need are for a woman of 30, 165 cm, 60 kg, lightly active, by the US and Canadian Dietary Reference Intakes. SustainBite works out each person's own needs, by the standard where they live: the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations in Norway, the UK's, EFSA's in the EU.

Climate footprint

6.5 kg CO2e a serving: higher than most main dishes on SustainBite. Source: ADEME, Agribalyse 3.2.

Plan weeks of recipes like this on SustainBite: meals that meet each person's vitamin and mineral needs, for a family too, with one grocery list. Free.