Butter bean and leek stew
The Wednesday stew. Halfway through the week the fridge has usually given up and there's a tired leek in the door, half a lemon, and a tin of butter beans behind the rice. This is what that becomes.
Ingredients
- 2 leeks, washed well, sliced into half-moons
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 tin butter beans, drained but the liquid kept
- 500 ml hot vegetable stock (or water + a stock cube)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- juice of half a lemon
- a handful of parsley if you have it
- salt, pepper, a pinch of chilli flakes
Method
- Warm the oil in a wide pan over a medium heat. Tip in the leeks with a good pinch of salt and let them soften slowly, stirring now and then, for about ten minutes. Don't rush this; the sweetness lives here.
- Add the garlic and chilli. Two more minutes.
- Tip in the butter beans (with a splash of their liquid) and the stock. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Mash about a quarter of the beans against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. This thickens the stew and saves you having to add anything else.
- Stir in the mustard. Simmer fifteen minutes, lid off, until it's silky and a bit reduced.
- Off the heat, add the lemon, parsley, and a generous grind of black pepper. Taste for salt.
- Eat with crusty bread and the rest of the lemon on the side.