Tuscan Bean Stew

📝 What you need

Ingredients

Olive oil Every Italian stew begins with a good slug of olive oil. Make sure you use a cooking olive oil, not extra-virgin which burns at a lower temperature. And, quite frankly, it is a waste of good-quality, peppery extra-virgin stuff to cook with it - save it for dipping your bread in and drizzling over the finished stew.

Red onion, leek, carrot, celery An aromatic mix of onion, celery and carrot known as 'soffrito' is often called the 'Holy Trinity' of Italian cooking - a traditional base for many soups, stews and sauces. I've added leeks and garlic here too, for a bit more oomph. Another nice touch is to add finely chopped parsley stalks, then chop the leaves into the stew right at the end.

Any Italian grandmother would tell you that you must cook your soffrito gently - low and slow. You are aiming to soften the vegetables and release their flavours, not to brown them or make them at all crisp or browned.

Garlic  As usual in my recipes, it is entirely up to you whether you peel and crush fresh garlic cloves, or use a jar/tube of ready-chopped garlic. Just don't skimp on it - the garlicky flavour is one of the heroes of this simple Tuscan bean stew.

Borlotti beans and Cannellini beans I use tinned beans here as I'm never organised enough to soak and cook them myself. But if you are - fantastic! Give yourself a pat on the back and adjust cooking times accordingly.

If you can't find borlotti and/or cannellini beans, any other type will do - haricot, butter beans, kidney, black-eye or black beans. Or you could use one tin of lentils and one tin of beans if you prefer.

Brown sugar When cooking with tomatoes I always add something sweet to offset the acid, and round off the flavours. If you don't want to use brown sugar, use whatever your preferred sweetener is - maple syrup, date syrup or agave would all work fine too.

Balsamic vinegar is entirely optional but does add a lovely deep, savoury flavour to this stew.

Equipment

It up to you whether to make this beany stew on the hob / stove or in a slow cooker.

If you're making it on the hob, a good, sturdy casserole dish with a lid is ideal. My trusty Le Creuset casserole gets used almost every day in our house, and twelve years later (it was a wedding present!), it looks just the same as it did the day we got it. (I can't say the same about me or Mr F, sadly!!).

If you're thinking of making this in a slow cooker instead, my favourite is this Crockpot with a hinged lid and digital timer. You can pick up a basic slow-cooker very cheaply these days, or look out on second hand sites as they are often being given away hardly used.

🔪 How to make your Tuscan Bean Stew

For a full, printable recipe with ingredients and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Finely chop red onion and leek and fry gently until soft. Add finely chopped celery and leek and peeled and crushed garlic. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

Trim and slice the pepper and add to the pan.

Drain and rinse borlotti and cannellini beans and add to the pan. Add passata and water, then stock powder, oregano, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. Simmer for 20 minutes covered then 10 minutes uncovered, until the sauce has reduced and is thick and glossy.

For instructions on how to make the stew in a slow-cooker, see the instructions at the end of the printable recipe below.

👩🏽‍🍳 Expert Tips and FAQs

You can't over-cook this stew! Leave it bubbling slowly at a low temperature for as long as you like, or pop it in a low-ish oven to keep warm if you're serving it to guests.

Adjust the consistency to suit your taste. If the finished stew is too runny, turn up the heat and bubble off a little liquid until it has thickened. If it is too thick, stir through a splash of water at a time until it is just right.

This is rustic food so don't stress at all if you don't have all the correct ingredients. Improvise, use what you have, substitute whatever you need to.

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