Beef stew will be tastier if you add 1 simple ingredient Mary Berry loves at the end

Once the leaves begin to make their yearly transition from green to muted shades of yellow and orange, households will be swapping out salad dishes for hearty stew recipes.

There's nothing not to love about a stew that's packed with root vegetables and tender cuts of meat, and usually, there are leftovers for lunch the next day, too. There are many reasons to make stew on a chilly day. Not only are they hearty, but they're also inexpensive and easy to make.

With less than 30 minutes of prep time and around two hours of cooking time, you can whip up Mary Berry's beef stew that pairs perfectly with tenderstem broccoli and dauphinoise potatoes or creamy mash. While the recipe is pretty basic, the cooking pro recommends adding a certain ingredient to boost the flavour and texture - horseradish cream.

Horseradish cream sauce is the perfect accompaniment for beef of all kinds, particularly roasts, steaks and stews.

A typical horseradish cream sauce is loaded with flavour notes of citrus, black pepper, earthy thyme, and cloves.

Mary Berry claims that adding horseradish cream at the end is the best topping and adds the perfect balance to the stew.

As well as adding horseradish cream, the cooking pro also likes to throw in some ginger and paprika.

Ingredients

• One tablespoon of sunflower oil
• 750g of braising steak, cut into 2cm cubes
• 25g of butter
• Two small leeks, trimmed and finely sliced
• One teaspoon of ground ginger
• Two teaspoons of paprika
• 4g of plain flour
• 425ml of beef stock
• Two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• One celeriac, peeled and cubed into 2cm pieces
• Two heaped tablespoons of hot horseradish cream
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh parsley, chopped for garnishing

Method

Start by heating the oil in a large ovenproof pan and frying the meat over high heat until browned all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. After, preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas Mark 3.

Add the butter and leeks to the unwashed pan, and fry for a few minutes. Sprinkle in the ginger, paprika and flour, stir and cook for a minute. Stir in the stock and bring to the boil, stirring until thickened.

Add Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper. Return the meat to the pan, bring to the boil, cover with a lid and simmer for a few minutes.

Transfer to the oven and cook for about one hour and 45 minutes to two hours. After this time, stir in the celeriac, bring back to the boil for a few minutes, then return to the oven for about 30 minutes, until the meat and celeriac are tender.

Stir in the horseradish cream, sprinkle with parsley and serve at once.