For Italian beef stew, or spezzatino di manzo, you will need:

2lb or 900g lean stewing beef, cut into large chunks
500g tomato passata
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped basil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 vegetable stock cube
100ml olive oil
salt and pepper

(serves 4)

In a large lidded pan, fry the beef in half of the olive oil over high heat until browned on the outside. Set aside for later.

In the same pan, fry the onion, celery and garlic in rest of the olive oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add passata, tomato puree, carrots and vegetable stock cube and simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add the beef to the vegetables, stir well, add some water to cover the beef if necessary, bring back to boil, cover and simmer on low heat for 2 hours, checking from time to time it is not sticking to the bottom, adding more water if necessary.

Stir in the parsley and basil, add salt and pepper to taste and serve with pasta or potatoes.