Beef casserole with pesto dumplings

I made this casserole with dumplings for the children and their wonderful babysitter on the weekend.

It is a dish that keeps well for a few days in the fridge and reheats very well, so it is great to make ahead. It is also great to make it and eat it straight away, so a win-win all around.

The casserole is the goulash recipe that I have blogged about recently.

Basically, you make the casserole, pour it into a baking dish, then make the dumplings. Place the dumplings onto top of (but squished into) the casserole, then cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

While the dumplings cook and become crunchy on the top, the bottom on the dumplings absorb the juices and become squishy and tasty.

This is ultimate comfort food for me. Unfortunately I didn't get to eat any of it as it was demolished by the time I got home.... Maybe next time.

What you'll need

* Serves four with some left over.

For the goulash/casserole

Click here for recipe and ingredients.

For the dumplings

50g butter
2 cups self-raising flour
100g ready-made basil pesto
3/4 cup milk

What to do

Make the goulash. You could do this the day before and store in the fridge until the next day.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Place the goulash into a baking/overproof dish. Make the dumplings.

Pour the flour into a large mixing bowl. Cube the butter and add to the flour and rub it together (like when making scones) until you have a crumbly mixture. Stir through the pesto and milk until you have a soft ball of mixture. If the mixture is very sticky, add a small amount of flour.

Divide the mixture and roll into approximately 20 balls of dough. Place the balls on top of the casserole, squishing them down a little into the meat.

Place in the oven and cook for approximately 20 minutes, until the balls are golden.

Serve while hot with vegetables on the side if you like.

* I made the goulash and the dumplings separately in this recipe. I then placed the already cooked dumplings onto the casserole in a plastic storage container and stored in the fridge. I did this as I didn't have the right size baking dish to use. This worked fine and the casserole and dumplings were reheated the next day.