End of Winter Casserole (Little Beef Olives)

Ingredients

• 8 pieces of schnitzel
• olives (optional)
• flour
• olive oil 
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 20 whole small button mushrooms
• half bottle of red wine
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp dried oregano
• water or stock to cover
• salt and pepper

Stuffing

• half loaf of sliced bread
• 1 onion
• handful rosemary
• 6 cloves garlic

Method 

Cut schnitzel into smaller pieces. Mostly you'll get two out of a piece, but sometimes they are huge and you get more. Cut them so they are long, vaguely triangular pieces.

Process the stuffing ingredients in a food processor until a coarse mixture.  Take lumps of this stuffing and roll the meat around them. Start at the bottom of the meat isoceles and roll to the tip. Set aside and repeat until you have a nice little pile of these smaller than usual beef olives. (Feel free to get flash with the stuffing and add olives, and whatever other things inspiration tells you).

When they are all made, flour them with well seasoned flour and brown lightly in batches, in oil, in a frying pan. As they become browned, add them to a casserole. 

When all browned, to the frying pan add one chopped onion, one carrot finely diced and about 20 whole small button mushrooms and soften them in the pan.

Deglaze the pan with half a bottle of red wine and tip into casserole. Add a can of chopped tomatoes, 2 tablespoons dried oregano and water or stock to just cover, if the wine and tomatoes don't. Season with salt and pepper.

Put into a 180°C oven for 2 hours. 

John Hawkesby’s Wine Suggestion

Pinot Noir

Montana Gabriel's Gully 2006
Amisfield 2006
Margrain Home Block 2005