Main Vegetarian

Beer, bread & Vegetable Stew

This hearty stew is a British spin on the Tuscan dish, ribollita. Mediterranean herbs have been replaced with bay and sage, while the broth is given depth of flavour with British ale. It's perfect winter comfort food for vegetarians

15 minutes prep, 45 minutes cook

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

25g unsalted butter

2 tbsp rapeseed or extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 small leek, finely diced

2 medium carrots, cut into small pieces

2 celery sticks cut into small pieces

3 garlic cloves, finely sliced

3 tbsp finely sliced sage

A pinch of chilli flakes

2 bay leaves

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

1.2 litres hot vegetable stock

330ml light ale

100g barley

120g shredded kale

1 x 400g can cannellini beans, drained

100g stale sourdough bread, torn roughly into pieces

120g strong Cheddar, grated

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Melt the butter with the oil in your deep pot over a medium heat. Add the leek, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pot and cook for about 7 minutes until the leek has softened and the volume reduced.

Add 2 tbsp of the sage, with the chilli flakes and bay leaves and cook for a further minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, stock, ale, barley, a generous pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add the kale and cook gently for another 10 minutes. The barley will now almost be cooked and the liquid thickened. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Add the drained cannellini beans, the bread and the remaining sage. Cook over a low heat for 10 more minutes until the bread has broken down and the sauce thickened further, turning a little creamy as the bread disintegrates.

Serve drizzled with more oil and sprinkle liberally with grated Cheddar and a good grind of black pepper.