Gemma I am confident I have never made this bean stew the same way twice. It can go from being a three-bean stew with just onions and peppers to a big pot of colour using up any leftover veg at the end of the week and just one can of beans. I love that about this recipe, it is forgiving, versatile and requires almost no precision. There is one thing I do know, even my most carnivorous friends love this recipe, it is not just for vegetarians.
Make it your own
There are some elements to the dish that are consistent. It has a warming spice from fresh and dried chillies, it’s tomato-based and it always has sweet potato, garlic, onion, some kind of beans, cumin and lots of coriander in it. But on the whole, this is a dish you can make your own. Or if you would like to you can make this version of our bean stew which is yummy! Remove, reduce or replace ingredients to suit your taste.
Fridge f*&k up
I have been making this dish for the best part of a decade. It was a lovely surprise the first time because it was made up of the few ingredients we had in the fridge at the end of the week. Back then we used to call this dish a fridge f*&k up but it quickly outgrew that title and became Sweet Hot Bean Pot – fortunate really now that we have children. We usually serve this with rice and greek yoghurt. It’s also lovely with a side of tortilla chips and a scoop of guacamole.
Bean stew for everyone
I made two versions in the video. The smaller pan is for the children. It doesn’t have much spice in and I didn’t add any salt because they are still quite young. The recipe card is written as if you were making just one big pot. If you have an avid meat-eater at your table and they aren’t warming to the thought of a bean stew you could add some chicken for them. And there you have it, the most versatile of meals from Family Feed.
Sweet Hot Bean Pot
Ingredients
- 4 sweet potatoes
- 2 onions
- 3 carrots
- 2 sticks of celery
- 3 red chillis
- 1 courgette
- 5 cloves garlic
- 4 bell peppers
- tsp cumin seeds
- tsp dried chilli flakes
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 kg passata
- 100 g coriander stalks and all
- 2 can of beans in water I used black beans in the video because that’s what we had in but chickpeas, butter beans, cannellini beans or kidney beans all work well too.
Instructions
Prepare your veg
- Dice sweet potato and pan-fry in olive oil until the edges start to brown then remove and set aside in a bowl
- Finely chop your onions, celery, carrots and garlic, slice your fresh chillis and set aside in bowls
- Slice your courgette in half lengthways and then slice each of the halves (roughly 1 inch thick)
- Dice your bell pepper into large chunks (roughly 1-inch)
- Fry your onions, celery, carrots, garlic and fresh chillis for a few minutes until soft and starting to brown
- Meanwhile, dry fry the cumin and dried chilli in a pan until warmed through. Be careful not to burn them. Remove from the pan and decant into pastel and mortar and grind to a powder. You can use ground cumin and chilli powder but I prefer the flavour this way.
- Make a space in the middle of the pan and fry your courgette, turning them to brown the sides
- Add your bell peppers, mix and fry for 2-3 minutes
- Add your ground cumin and dried chilli, followed by ground cinnamon and give everything a good mix.
- Add the sweet potato, mix it in then follow with the passata.
- Season with some sea salt but don’t go over the top here. I prefer to taste at the end and adjust if more is needed.
- Finally, add the beans and chopped coriander (stalks and all) and give it one last mix.
- Leave it to cook for the next 20 minutes or until the veg is soft but not soggy. Check the seasoning and serve with some fresh coriander.
Video
Get in touch to share your recipes and ideas with the Family Feed community and follow us on Instagram @familyfeedinsta
