Spanish Tomato & Bean Stew
As you can see I’ve already taken a bite!
I live in a world where suddenly September hits and everyone wants to know if I’m ok for Tomatoes! This comes shortly after the rush of courgettes - but look I’m not complaining! I adore both and I hope to contribute to the Tomato Mountain next year but so far - its just one green marble of a tomato on the plants in my window and I think the neighbours think I’m growing something else entirely!
But I had a yearning for Spanish Rustic Fare and with no chance of travel yet I decided to set about making something up with all the tomatoes that were coming my way. I’ll be posting a couple of versions of this on my recipe pages but here I’ll just concentrate on my non vegetarian version.
INGREDIENTS
70 mls Don Carlos Olive Oil plus 30 mls Don Carlos Olive Oil
550 g – 600G cherry tomatoes - halved
70 mls Cream Sherry
2 teaspoons Sugar
Sea salt and black pepper
1 Large Spanish Onion - diced
4 or 5 large garlic cloves plus 1 or 2 more. crushed
2 cans cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 Jar Don Antonio Sugo all Marinara Sauce (Super Valu)
1 Cooking Chorizo sliced and slices quartered
1/3 Knor Stock Pot (optional)
Manchego Cheese, grated
1/2 Teaspoon Sweet, Hot or Regular Paprika (optional)
Crusty Bread toasted or grilled on George Foreman (have a garlic clove and some more Don Carlos Olive Oil for this)
Prepare your tomatoes the night before and you will have a very easy job on your hands finishing this dish.
Take between 550g and 600g Cherry Tomatoes and half them
Put them in a large pot on a very low heat with 70 mls Don Carlos Olive Oil, and add the garlic. Keep it low so that the garlic does not burn and after a couple of minutes add the sherry and the sugar.
Cook gently, stirring from time to time for at least 30 minutes adding in good pinch of Sea Salt and Black Pepper.
Leave them to sit overnight or for at least a few hours.
Remove the tomatoes from the pot and set aside. So you can continue cooking in the same pot.
Add 30 mls of Don Carlos Olive Oil to the pan and on a low heat cook your diced onion and 1 or two large cloves of crushed garlic. While this is cooking prepare your Chorizo. I like to slice the chorizo and then ¼ each slice but halving the slices will be fine it you like it bigger.
Add the chorizo to the garlic and onion and continue to cook for about 5 to 8 mins and keep stirring. You can add the paprika now too if you wish to add it.
Meanwhile drain and rinse your beans in a colander.
Add the jar of Don Antonio Marinara Sauce to the pot and bring it up to a gentle simmer with a pinch of salt and then add your beans and add back in your cherry tomatoes and keep it at a gentle low simmer for about 10minutes. Stir gently and it’s ok if the beans get a little smushed.
Prepare your Bread - either in a toaster on a George Foreman toast your bread. Take a Garlic clove and rub it on the toasted slices and drizzle them with a little Don Carlos Olive Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Ladle your stew into bowls and sprinkle plenty of grated Manchego Cheese on top and serve with the bread.
Enjoy enjoy and just leave out the Chorizo if you are a vegetarian - you’ll get plenty of flavour anyway and can use a bit more paprika if you want even more flavour!