Hearty Minestrone Stew

Soups and stews are underrated, at least I think so.

Usually, they're associated with a defeated groan, sigh and then acceptance, "Okkkayyy... fine..."
But it doesn't need to be this way! Because soups and stews are awesome! And in the colder seasons (like it's trying to be right now where I live), it's like a comforting hug in your belly.

This recipe is the kind of meal that takes lots of love and care to make... in other words, it's not a meal of moments...

But it is easy, and most of the time it takes to make, well, you're not actually slaving over it, so really, it's little time on your behalf. :P

Note: If you have a slowcooker, you can use that instead of a large pot. Alas, I do not own one, so I used just a regular pot.

Hearty Minestrone Stew

Ingredients

• 25g Red Kidney Beans
• 25g White Beans (I used Cannellini)
• 1/2 Brown Onion
• 1 Celery Stalk
• 1/2 Carrot
• 1 Clove of Garlic 
• 1 medium sized Potato 
• 1/2 can of diced Tomatoes 
• 1 tablespoon of Tomato Paste
• 1 tablespoon of Vegan Butter
• 2 teaspoons of Vegan "Chicken" stock
• 1 teaspoon of Vegetable Stock 
• 1 teaspoon of Celery Salt
• 1 teaspoon of dried Thyme 
• 1 teaspoon of dried Rosemary
• Pepper, to taste
• A small handful of Parsley
• 1 3/4 Filtered Water 

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 100 minutes  

Other: Gluten-Free 

If you're using canned beans, then you can skip this part, but as I use dried beans I first fill a small-medium saucepan with water, bring to the boil, add salt, then add the beans. I usually cook dried beans (which haven't been previously soaked), for 80 minutes, which works well for this recipe. 

Once the beans are boiling away on a medium heat, with a lid covering half the saucepan, you can then fill a large saucepan with 1 1/2 cups of filtered water. Add the stock to this and bring to the boil. As this is gaining heat you can chop the vegetables into bite sized pieces. 

When the stock has come to a boil, add the onion and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes on a medium heat so it can release its delicious sweetness to the stock. 

Next, add the other vegetables.

Now, add the tomato paste and vegan butter, and mix together. (The vegan butter is important to take away any acidic taste the tomatoes might give the stew).

Add the canned tomatoes, dried herbs, celery salt and pepper to the stew. 

After mixing together, leave the stew to cook with the lid on for 40 minutes. Once 40 minutes has been check the stew (and beans if you're cooking them from dried), and stir to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. 

Cook for a further 40 minutes.

After that time has passed, drain the beans and add to the stew. At this point you may also need to add a further 1/4 cup of water if you think the strew doesn't have enough liquid. 

Cook the stew, with the lid off (so it will thicken), for a further 20 minutes.

Chop the parsley, serve the stew into a bowl, then sprinkle the parsley on top.

Voilà!

xo.

Moonlight