Butter Bean Stew with Roasted Fennel & Crispy Shallots
With shallots being available all year round, it’s easy to forget that they too are seasonal. And September is the month when British new season shallots kick into gear. So here we go! Shallots are also brilliant at adding complexity to a dish. My favourite kind of food comes in layers, contrasts and textures. You can slow-cook the shallots until sweet & tender or you can turn them into a crispy garnish that adds a welcome crunch and a slight bitterness to the finished meal. Or both, like in this simple butter bean stew.
Ingredients
Slow-cooked Butter Beans
- 400 g dried butter beans (or 2x 650g cooked butter beans)
- 8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 l vegetable stock
- 400 g shallots
- 10 garlic cloves
- 10 g thyme
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp white miso
- 1 lemon
Crispy Shallots
- 120 g shallots
- Olive oil
Roasted Fennel
- 2 fennel bulbs
- olive oil
Salsa
- 1 small garlic clove
- 20 g pistachios
- 40 g parsley
- 20 g tarragon
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Soak the beans overnight in 3x the amount of water. The next day, drain the beans and add them to a sauce pan along with 4 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil and the veg stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 45 minutes (if you’re using pre-cooked beans, just skip this step and simply add them to the stew later on).
- Pre-heat the oven to 220°C. In the meantime, make the crispy shallots. Peel the shallots and slice them into thin rings. Add the rings to a cold saucepan and just about cover with olive oil. Turn on the heat and fry the shallots until they turn golden, stirring often so that they cook evenly. Place a fine sieve over a heatproof bowl. When the shallots are ready, strain them in the sieve before transferring them to a paper towel to soak up the excess oil. Sprinkle with salt and set aside. Tip: You can make crispy shallots ahead. They will last for around two weeks if kept in an airtight container and at room temperature. Don’t refrigerate them or they will lose their crunch.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Remove any fennel greens and set aside for later (keep them in a small bowl of cold water in the fridge to stay nice and crisp). Then cut the fennel in half and each half into quarters. Coat the fennel in olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then place onto the tray and roast in the oven for 20 minutes. To get them nice and golden, place them under the grill for another 5 minutes.
- While the fennel is roasting, finish the stew. Peel the shallots, leaving the smaller ones whole and cutting the larger ones in half. Peel and finely chop the garlic and strip the thyme leaves, discarding the stem. Heat the remaining 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a casserole, add the shallots and sauté them until golden all around. Lower the heat and add the garlic, thyme and fennel seeds and continue cooking for 1 - 2 min until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the miso and 3/4 tsp of salt. Then tip in the butter beans and their cooking liquor (or add the pre-cooked butter beans at this stage along with the veg stock). Let them simmer until most of the water has evaporated.
- For the salsa, add the garlic and pistachios to the small bowl of a food processor and pulse until crushed. Twist off the leafy bit of the parsley and discard the rest. Pick the tarragon leaves and roughly chop them together with the parsley, then add both to the food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Stir in the vinegar, olive oil, 1/3 tsp salt and 4 tbsp cold water and set aside.
- By now, the bean stew should have thickened. If not, cook it a little longer. Once ready, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Give it a stir, then spoon the beans onto serving plates. Add the roasted fennel followed by the salsa, the crispy shallots, reserved fennel greens, another squeeze of lemon juice and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.