Beef Stroganoff

Stroganoff’s one of those weeknight dishes I keep coming back to because it delivers a creamy, savoury sauce in under half an hour. It started life as a Russian dish in the 1800s and the technique hasn’t changed much since: hot pan, fast sear on the beef, then build the sauce in the same pan so you pick up all the fond off the bottom. The sour cream goes in at the end on a gentle heat so it stays smooth and doesn’t split. Get those three things right and the rest is hard to mess up.

I serve this over wide egg noodles or pappardelle because the sauce clings to them properly, but any short pasta works. The whole thing comes together in one pan, which makes it ideal for a midweek dinner when I want something rich without standing over the stove for an hour. Leftovers reheat well the next day with a splash of stock to loosen the sauce, so it’s worth doubling the batch if you’ve got the appetite.

Ingredient Notes

Beef strips: I look for thinly sliced rump, sirloin or scotch fillet. The cut needs to be tender enough to cook quickly because it’s seared hot and fast. If you only have steak, freeze it for 20 minutes then slice it thinly across the grain.

Swiss brown mushrooms: These have a deeper, earthier flavour than button mushrooms and they hold their texture better in the sauce. Slice them around 5mm thick so they don’t disappear once they cook down. If you can’t find Swiss browns, portobello or chestnut mushrooms work well too.

Sour cream: Use full-fat. Low-fat sour cream is more likely to split when it hits the hot sauce, and you lose the richness that makes this dish what it is. Take the pan off the boil before stirring it through.

Equipment

• Chopping board

• Chef’s knife

• Tongs

• Heavy-based frying pan or skillet

• Wooden spoon