Food: Smoky chickpea and lentil stew

Here’s a dead simple recipe for a store cupboard vegan alternative to regular stew. The secret ingredient to this (and many other) recipes is time – just allowing it to simmer away and work its magic at a low temperature in the oven.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion, chopped finely,

• 1-2 cloves of garlic,

• 1tbp of oil (vegetable)

• 1 tin of chickpeas,

• 1 tin of butter beans,

• 150g of red lentils,

• 200ml of water,

• 1 tin of tomatoes,

• 1tbp tomato puree,

• 1tbp sundried tomato paste,

• 1tsp dried cumin,

• 1tsp pimentón,

• 1tsp chipotle chilli powder

• ½ tsp cinnamon,

• ½ tsp chili flakes,

• 3-4 drops of liquid smoke,

• Small handful of fresh coriander,

• Small handful of fresh parsley,

 

To serve:

• Small handful of fresh coriander or parsley,

• 1 generous dollop of Oatly fraîche,

• Lots of nice, crispy fresh bread.

 

Method:

 

Chop the onion and the garlic finely and soften in a little oil in a suitably sized Dutch oven. When they’re soft add the tomato puree and allow that to suck up all the extra oil. Add in the chickpeas and the tomatoes, sundried tomato paste, stir and season with salt and black pepper. Add in the lentils and some of the water for now. Season the stew with the rest of the dry spices and give it a good stir. Let the mixture come up to simmering point and then stir in the fresh herbs and the drops of liquid smoke. The lentils should have absorbed some of the water by this point so top it up and place in a preheated oven at 140°C. Allow it to cook for at least forty minutes before checking. Take it out and give it a good stir, give it a bit more water if it’s looking dry. At this stage you’ll need to give it another half an hour at least to let the lentils truly lose their bite and become soft. Keep stirring and checking until it’s the consistency you want. The longer you leave it the better it’ll be, I promise!

When it’s done serve with the chopped herbs, a dollop of Oatly fraiche and a mountain of good bread. It’s the perfect summer stew!