Tag Archives: Passata

Mixed Vegetable & Soya Bean Stew

22 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by in Main Courses, Starters, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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A rich stew is just the food for this time of year, it’s warm and satisfying. The main ingredient in this stew is soya beans, high in protein, tasty and a good firm texture. As with all stews, making a small amount is impossible, so I’ve made this a little spicy but not overly so that on its second outing I can spice it up and add fresh mint, coriander and raisins to give it a more Moroccan taste and then serve it with Cous Cous.

For 4 portions

160 grams dried soya beans – soaked overnight in cold water

1/2 onion – sliced

2 cloves garlic

1 litre stock

Olive oil


1/2 onion – thinly sliced

3 carrots – peeled and diced

1 medium turnip – peeled and diced

2 slices butternut squash – peeled and diced

1 courgette – diced

100 grams flat green beans – cut into 1 cm lengths

1 teaspoon Ras el Hanout spice mix

jar of tomato passata/ tin chopped tomatoes

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soak the beans overnight on plenty of cold water.

Drain and put in a saucepan with the half a sliced onion, the 2 cloves of garlic and enough stock to cover.

Put on the heat and bring to a simmer, turn the heat down and cook for about an hour and a half until the beans are tender. Add extra stock if the liquid gets too low.

Heat couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan and add the other half of the onion. Fry until translucent.

Add all the diced vegetables and fry gently for ten minutes stirring them well to coat them with the oil.

Add the Ras el Hanout and stir well to mix with the vegetables.

Add the tomatoes and mix well. Cover the pan and simmer slowly for about ten minutes.

Drain the beans from their cooking liquid, keep the liquid to either add to the stew if needed or for another recipe, and add the beans to the vegetables.

Mix in well and simmer for another ten minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Serve in shallow bowls, either alone or with some crunchy fresh bread.

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Spicy Fish Stew & Yuca Dumplings

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Fish, Food for One, Main Courses

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IMG_0033  Here is the fish stew to go with yesterdays Yuca Dumplings as promised.

Per person

100 gms meaty fish – swordfish, salmon, conger eel, haddock

4 large prawns in the shells

Juice of half a lime

Half a teaspoon turmeric

Quarter of a teaspoon sumac

Quarter of a teaspoon chilli powder or half a teaspoon fresh finely chopped chilli

Quarter of a teaspoon fresh thyme finely chopped or half that amount of dried thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil for frying

Half a sweet red pepper cut into chunks

Green beans, washed and cut into slices

20 gms sweetcorn, either frozen or tinned is fine

Small jar passata – the recipe can be found in the preserves section

3 or 4 yuca dumplings

Cut the fish into biggish chunks. Put into a bowl with the prawns. You can remove the shells from the prawns at this stage if you prefer, but they do add extra flavour to the dish.

Pour over the lime juice and add all the spices; turmeric, sumac, chilli, thyme, and season with salt and pepper.

Mix well to coat the fish pieces and prawns with the marinade. Leave for an hour for the spices to permeate the fish.

When this time has passed, heat some oil in a shallow saucepan and add the peppers. Fry for 5 minutes or so.

Add the beans and fry for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the passata and stir in. Turn the heat down and let the vegetables cook for 5 minutes.

Add the fish and any juices with it. Gently stir in. Leave to cook for 5-7 minutes until just on the verge of being done.

Add the sweetcorn and the dumplings. Cook for a few minutes to heat them through turning the dumplings in the sauce to coat them.

Serve.

Meatballs & Chestnuts in Tomato Sauce

07 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by in Main Courses, Starters

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These are to go with the Potaoto Gnocchi of the previous post.

For four people

2 cloves of garlic

125 gms lean pork

olive oil

salt and pepper

small jar of passata

150 gms cooked and peeled whole chestnuts

Parmesan cheese grated

Sage leaves – fresh whole ones

In the food processor, finely chop the garlic. Cut the pork into cubes and add to the food processor with seasonings. Process to a fine mince.

Turn the mince out onto a floured board and with floured hands form into small meatballs. You will note that there is no egg to bind these meatballs, if you have lean meat then as it cooks the protein binds together, so you don’t need any extra binding. Likewise when you are making beefburgers, use good lean meat and seasoning, and you don’t need anything else.

Heat some oil in a shallow pan and fry the meatballs on a gentle heat until lightly browned on all sides. Cook a few at a time if the pan is not very large.

Once they are all browned, add the passata to almost cover the meatballs. Cook gently for another 15 minutes.

Passata is a wonderful sauce to have in your storecupboard. I make enough jars in the summer when the plum tomatoes are at their most flavoursome to last me for the whole year. It is not only a great way to preserve a bumper crop of tomatoes, but as you are making it yourself you can vary the flavours that you add to it. I do a batch with chilli added, one with coriander and lemon grass, one with strong basil flavour, another with oregano as the predominant flavour. Check out the blog in July for the passata recipe.

So back to the meatballs. Once they are cooked add the chestnuts to heat them through.

Now for the finishing touches.Heat some oil in a small sauce pan, and when hot add the sage leaves and fry until they are crisp. Drain on kitchen roll. Save the oil for flavouring future dishes.

Grate the parmesan.

Add the hot cooked gnocchi to the meatballs and gently stir to coat with the sauce. Dish up onto warm plates. Sprinkle over the grated parmesan and the fried sage leaves. Enjoy.