Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the celery, carrot, onion, garlic, and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots just begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste, stir to coat the vegetables, and cook until it’s no longer raw-tasting, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and mustard, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the wine reduces by roughly half, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. (At this point the mixture can be completely cooled and refrigerated up to 12 hours until ready to continue.) Place the flour, measured salt, and measured pepper in a large bowl and whisk to combine; set aside. Trim the roast of excess fat and sinew and cut it into 1- to 1-1/2-inch cubes. Place the meat and mushrooms in the flour mixture and toss to coat. Pour all of the meat, mushrooms, and loose flour mixture into the slow cooker. Add the vegetable-wine mixture and stir to combine. Add the beef broth and bay leaf, tucking the bay leaf into the broth. Cover and cook on high, stirring about every 1 1/2 hours if possible (if you can’t stir it that often, it’s OK), until the beef is tender and can easily be pierced with a fork, about 5 hours. Add the peas and parsley, stir to combine, and continue to heat until the peas are warm, about 5 minutes. Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed.