Braised Beef with Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Peppers

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make skillet-braised beef with eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers? First, gather all your ingredients. For this dish it's important to choose fresh, high-quality meat — beef or veal, boneless and free of tough sinew. Cuts from the shank, chuck, or round work well. Feel free to add to or swap out the vegetables to suit your taste.

2. Step 2:

   

   Wash the beef, pat it dry, and cut it into medium cubes. I used two cuts — boneless shank and a piece from the round. Both turn meltingly tender with a long, slow braise.

3. Step 3:

   

   Heat half the vegetable oil in a skillet and sear the beef over high heat until golden brown. Since there's a lot of beef, it's best to work in batches, moving the seared pieces to a plate. If you crowd all the meat in at once, it releases too much juice and steams instead of browning.

4. Step 4:

   

   Once all the meat is seared, return it to the pan. Add the tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Stir it all together and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes. You can use ketchup in place of the tomato paste.

5. Step 5:

   

   Pour in hot beef broth (or water, if you don't have broth). Braise the meat over low heat, covered, for 1 hour, until tender.

6. Step 6:

   

   While the meat braises, prep the vegetables. Core and seed the bell pepper, then cut it into medium pieces.

7. Step 7:

   

   Wash and dry the tomatoes. Go for small, firm ones — cherry tomatoes or slightly larger cocktail tomatoes are ideal. They'll hold their shape and won't fall apart as they cook. I added a couple of yellow tomatoes for color. If you're using regular tomatoes, cut them into quarters.

8. Step 8:

   

   Cut the eggplant into medium pieces. If it tastes bitter, salt it, cover with water, and let it sit for 10 minutes, then drain.

9. Step 9:

   

   Slice the onion into half-moons.

10. Step 10:

    

    Finely chop the garlic.

11. Step 11:

    

    In a second skillet, heat the remaining vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes.

12. Step 12:

    

    Add the chopped eggplant to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes.

13. Step 13:

    

    Transfer the sautéed vegetables to the skillet with the braised beef. Add the fresh tomatoes and garlic. Season everything with salt and pepper to taste and stir.

14. Step 14:

    

    Bring the pan to a boil and simmer over low heat, covered, for another 10–15 minutes. Add a splash more broth if needed.

15. Step 15:

    

    Spoon the finished beef and vegetables onto plates, garnish with fresh herbs, and serve. Enjoy!