Beef Olives

• 450 g topside of Beef
• salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
• 2 teaspoons Cornflour
• 2 small Carrots, peeled and finely diced
• 1 small Onion, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon dried Mixed Herbs
• 1 tablespoon Tomato Purée
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 150 ml Beef Stock
• 150 ml Red Wine
• 4 rashers unsmoked Streaky Bacon
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Parsley, to garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Carve the topside into four thick slices. Place each slice between sheets of greaseproof paper and flatten them by bashing with a rolling pin or meat hammer. Season.

Blend the cornflour with a little cold water to make a paste.

In a bowl, mix together the carrots, onion, herbs, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, blended cornflour and 4 tablespoons of the stock.

Divide the stuffing mixture between the flattened slices and roll up each into a neat parcel. Wrap each parcel with a rasher of bacon and tie securely with string.

Place the parcels in a shallow roasting tin or ovenproof baking dish and pour in the remaining stock and the red wine.

Cover the dish tightly with foil and cook for 1½–2 hours or until the meat is really tender.

To serve, remove the string from each parcel and garnish with the parsley, if using.

These are delicious served with ratatouille.

Tip

Ask your butcher to cut four slices of topside for you, rather than buying one big piece.