Against the April Blues: Red Wine Goulash with Spaetzle

After illness disrupted the author’s Easter cooking plans, cold and gloomy weather provided one last opportunity to make a warming stew before spring. Rather than preparing a more elaborate boeuf bourguignon, the author chose this simpler red wine goulash with homemade spaetzle.

Red Wine Goulash with Spaetzle

Makes 2 servings.

For the goulash and red wine onions

• 2 onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 thin celery stalks
• 500 g beef, cut into goulash-size pieces
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 250 ml dry red wine
• 250–300 ml beef stock
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Salt, as needed

For the spaetzle

• 300 g flour
• 3 eggs
• Salt
• Butter
• Water, as needed

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C using conventional top and bottom heat.
2. Peel the onions. Finely dice one and quarter the other. Peel the carrots and clean the celery, then finely dice both and combine them with the diced onion.
3. Pat the beef dry. Add the mustard and mix until every piece is evenly coated.
4. Heat a generous splash of olive oil and a knob of butter in an ovenproof roasting pan. Brown the beef in batches, then set it aside.
5. Add a little more cooking fat if necessary. Fry the diced onion, carrots and celery until lightly browned.
6. Return the beef to the pan, sprinkle it with flour and mix well. Cook briefly, then add the tomato paste and sauté it for a moment.
7. Deglaze the pan with 125 ml of the red wine and allow it to reduce slightly.
8. Add one bay leaf and half of the thyme. Pour in enough beef stock to cover the meat.
9. Cover the pan and transfer it to the oven. Braise for at least 3 hours. Add a little water if the liquid becomes too low; if the stew begins to catch, reduce the temperature by 10–20°C.
10. Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a saucepan and sauté the quartered onion. Add the remaining wine, bay leaf and thyme, then cook until the onions are tender and the wine has reduced. Serve these red wine onions with the finished goulash.
11. For the spaetzle, mix the flour, eggs and salt into a thick, smooth batter, adding enough water to achieve a consistency that can be pressed through a spaetzle maker.
12. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Press the batter into the water in batches. When the spaetzle rise to the surface, let them boil briefly, lift them out and keep them warm.
13. Stir a little butter through the cooked spaetzle and serve immediately with the goulash and red wine onions.