Rainbow Chestnut Stew
Who needs some comfort food ideas? We have the perfect stew recipe which will nourish your body and feed your soul on these colder nights. This is our mouth watering rainbow chestnut stew, a brilliant dish to feed the family! It's packed full of beans, greens and vegetables, It's bloomin' delicious and a really healthy vegan and vegetarian friendly meal.
Serves
Ingredients
For the recipe
<item-todo-done>6 tbsp olive oil<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tbsp tomato purée<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>150g butternut squash<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 carrots<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 parsnips<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 garlic cloves<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>3 thyme sprigs<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tbsp olive oil<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 x 180g vacuum packed pre-cooked chestnuts<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 leek<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 celery stick<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>10g sage leaves<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>100ml sherry - or dry white wine<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>4g sage leaves<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 can of butter beans<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>50g pearl barley<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>300ml vegetable stock<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>400g baby spinach<item-todo-done><item-todo-done> chilli flakes<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 can of butter beans<item-todo-done>
Before you start
Preheat oven to 180° C | Large Saucepan | Chopping Board | Knife | Vegetable Peeler | Baking tray lined with parchment paper
Prepare the veggies
- Peel and roughly chop the carrots, parsnips and butternut squash in to 2cm chunks
- Toss with the olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper
- Add the unpeeled garlic cloves and thyme sprigs and place on a lined baking tray
- Place the tray in the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes until the veg is tender
Prepare the other ingredients
- Finely slice the leek and the celery
- Pick and roughly chop the sage
- Drain and rinse the butterbeans
- Crumble the chestnuts
Cooking the stew
- In a large heavy-based pan, warm 1 tbsp olive oil add the leek and celery with a pinch of salt and stir until soft and translucent
- Add the sage and butterbeans to the pan, fold them in to the vegetables, take the pan off the heat
- Take the tray out of the oven
- Discard the thyme sprigs from the roasted root veggies
- Carefully squeeze the insides of the garlic cloves out of their skins into the pan
- Add the roasted vegetables to the pan and stir for 30 seconds
- Add the sherry or white wine and tomato puree to the pan and stir for 2-3 minutes to cook off the alcohol
Finishing the stew
- Add the pearl barley and stock to the pan
- Bring the mixture to the boil, reduce to a simmer for 15 -20 minutes, adding the crumbled chestnuts 5 minutes before the end
- The soup is ready when the barley is cooked, but still with a nutty bite
Time to serve
- Remove from the heat, season to taste and stir through the baby leaf spinach and sprinkle with chilli flakes and sage leaves
- Serve half immediately and place the leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge to be reheated and served for lunch the following day (make sure the stew is piping hot when you reheat)