When winter properly kicks in I always crave stew and dumplings, as I LOVE the feeling of a warm and full belly on a cold day. It's a great way to get a wide variety of nutrients into you, as you can put as many different vegetables, legumes, herbs and spices as you like... the more the better in my opinion! And stew absolutely doesn't need to contain meat, for flavour nor for texture. I find using beans and lentils gives stew all the 'meatiness' anyone could want, and the different textures of vegetables make it very satisfying indeed.
I make my own dumplings from scratch without using suet, as the only suet I can get here is made with sunflower and palm oil - the first being a highly processed unhealthy oil, and the latter, although healthy, is unethical due to the impact its production has on the environment. The suet (Atora) is also made with non-organic wheat flour, and wheat contains pesticide residues as they often spray only days before harvest. Yuk. But if you can find organic and ethical suet, by all means use that! I also don't usually add salt to the food I cook, as my infant son eats what I eat. But you can always add it to your own bowl of stew when it comes to eating it, if you too intend on giving it to young children. But herbs and spices - great for developing the pallet, so these I add generously.
What you will need: (makes enough to fill a large casserole pot)
200g soup/broth mix (e.g. pearl barley, split peas, marrowfat peas, lentils)
8 potatoes
1/2 butternut squash
1 sweet potato
6-8 carrots
1 large parsnip
5 medium onions
1 bulb garlic
1 jar tomato passata/chopped tomatoes
4 cups mixed beans*
1 kettle-full of boiling water
2 tblsp red wine
(Salt to tatse, if you're not giving this to young children)
2 tbslp black pepper
1 tblsp honey
1 tblsp thyme
1 tblsp oregano
1 tblsp rosemary
1 tblsp parsley
1 tblsp cinnamon
1 tblsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
* I always have a stash of cooked-from-dried beans portioned up in little jars in the freezer, which is super handy if you do a lot of vegetarian cooking. Please see my previous post on the easiest way to batch cook beans. In this recipe I used a mixture of kidney beans, chickpeas and green mung beans, but any type will work just as well as it's the texture of them that will give this stew a 'meatiness'.
For the dumplings: (makes 4-6)
100g fine wholewheat flour
150g coarse wholewheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp basil
3 tblsp avocado/olive oil
3 tblsp (approx) milk
Method:
Soak the soup/broth mix overnight in cold water as per instructions (mine said 100g to 500ml water). The following day bring to the boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
Peel the potatoes, butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, and dice into bite-size chunks. Chop the garlic finely.
Add all to a large casserole pot.
Stir in the tomato passata, mixed beans and cooked broth mix.
Add the kettle of water and all the flavourings and mix well. Put the lid on the pot and pop into the oven at 200 degrees Celcius for at least 3 hours until all the veg has softened and the stew has thickened. I often leave it to sit in the pot until the next day, as in my opinion stew always tastes better the day after it's made... perhaps it's due to the veg absorbing the flavours, and some of the ingredients end up disintegrating (such as the sweet potato and mung beans) and the whole thing ends up richer and thicker. Lovely. To reheat a pot this size from cold takes about 1 hour in a hot oven.
When the stew is ready, you can make the dumplings:
In a large bowl mix together the flours, baking soda, salt and herbs. Add the oil and rub into the flour with your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add the milk, a little at a time, just enough to form a crumbly dough.
Shape into balls with your hands – don't pack them too tight as we want them to be light and fluffy. Carefully float them on top of the stew. They should be half-immersed in liquid, so add more water to the stew if necessary.
Pop back into the oven at 180 degrees Celcius for 15 minutes, then turn the dumplings over. Cook for a further 15 minutes until the dumplings have browned and are crunchy on the outside.
Serve in bowls, and enjoy a warm and full belly too!
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Many thanks.
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