• Prep all the veg, spices and dredge mix before you start. I use small bowls for all the spices so they are ready to toss in. This is called "mise en place" and will help your cooking go much more smoothly.
• Put pot on medium heat with olive oil and pancetta. Render the pancetta slowly, turn down heat it if starts to get too brown. You want it crispy, not burnt. Add in onions, peppers and garlic and sweat them. Keep the heat fairly low, you want them translucent, not browned. About 5 minutes.
• While the aromatics are cooking, dredge meat in the flour mixture. Turn up the heat to medium high and add meat to pot with veg. Brown meat, keeping it moving in the pot. When it begins to stick, deglaze with wine and broth. Scrape up the fond (brown bits) from the bottom of the pot. About 6 minutes.
• Next, add tomato paste, all the spices, lemon zest and nutmeg. Stir. Add diced tomatoes and stir. Check seasoning. Now is when you'll add sugar if the tomatoes seem too acidic. When seasoning is correct, bring to boil then reduce to simmer.
• Keep at a slow simmer for about 2 hours, lid slightly ajar, stirring occasionally. If the stew starts to reduce too much (gets too thick), add a little more broth and turn down heat a little.
• When beef is very tender, stew is done. Add in the lemon juice and check seasoning a final time.
• Serve with toppings suggested and crusty bread. Or over rice or couscous.

For Crock Pot

• The recipe is basically the same, but you'll need to brown the pancetta, aromatics and meat in a skillet before adding to crock pot. Do the first three steps of the recipe, then all the other ingredients can be put in the crockpot (wait to check tomato acidity until the end of cooking). Cut down olive oil to about a Tbl. Cut down broth and wine by half (¼ C of each). Put beef and pancetta in last. Cook on HIGH for about 5 hours or when meat is very tender. As with the stovetop recipe, hold the lemon juice until the stew is done or it will become bitter.