Easy Beefy Pasta One Pot

Featuring meltingly tender chunks of beef and a Mediterranean-style sauce, my Easy Beefy Pasta One Pot is a combination of stew and pasta you cook in one pot that always gets rave reviews. It’s super easy, pretty much looks after itself and it tastes amazing the next day too. It’s perfect for making ahead or I sometimes I make a double batch just to have leftovers!

This post has been on the website since 2012 and is definitely due an update – which I am currently working on. In the meantime, the recipe is too delicious not to share!

This recipe will serve four generously.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
1 pound of chuck steak or similar stewing cut, preferably pasture raised, cut in one inch chunks (They don’t have to be exactly one inch, just roughly.)
1 red or green pepper, de-seeded and cut in chunks
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut in bit size chunks
1 cup beef stock
3 cups sieved tomatoes (passata) or your favorite tomato sauce
¼ cup basil pesto
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2½ – 3 cups water (approximately)
2 cups penne pasta or other pasta shapes

Preheat the oven to 325℉ or 160℃ (150℃ for a fan oven).

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in the bottom of a stove top to oven casserole with a lid. Or you can use a frying pan for the first steps and then transfer the recipe to an oven safe casserole with a lid before putting it in the oven.

Add the onion to the oil and sauté for about five minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion begins to become translucent. Add the chunks of beef and brown in the oil, stirring frequently so that all the sides of the beef chunks all get sealed and turn slightly brown. This should take about five to ten minutes.

Add the red or green pepper, carrots, beef stock, tomato sauce, pesto, oregano and bay leaf. Stir together. Pop the lid on the casserole and transfer it to the oven. (Remember to use oven mitts!)

Cook for an hour and a half, stirring every half hour. After the hour and a half has passed, remove the casserole from the oven and carefully stir in 2½ cups water and the pasta. Pop the lid back on and return the casserole to the oven. Set the timer for ten minutes.

After the ten minutes have elapsed, take the casserole out of the oven and stir the stew. You may need to add a bit more water at this point so the pasta cooks to al dente. Go carefully as you can always add more water, but you can’t take it away!

Whether you have added more water or not, return the casserole to the oven for about ten minutes more. The pasta one pot is ready to serve when the pasta is al dente. (If you need to add a bit more water once again that is okay. How this dish cooks depends upon the sort of pasta you use and your oven.)