Happy Skin Kitchen by Elisa Rossi, HarperThorsons, £25
Creamy Cannellini, Mushroom and Cavolo Nero Stew
Warm up with Elisa Rossi's delicious stew recipe
Whenever I head back to the countryside around Bologna where I grew up, this is the first dish I will always cook. My dad, whose diet consists of about 95 percent beans and cabbage, has a garden overflowing with emerald-green cavolo nero (also called Tuscan kale) plants. As with most Italian dishes, this recipe is about quality ingredients, cooked simply to allow them to sing. The cannellini beans, when blended, help create a luxurious creamy, thick stew without the need for any cream. It's no secret that kale is good for you, but did you know that just 50 grams of raw kale delivers over 200 percent of your daily vitamin A (a powerful vitamin for preventing ageing) and 120 percent of your daily vitamin C (essential for collagen production)? Pair that with the selenium content of the mushrooms and you have got yourself a wonderfully beautifying winter warmer.
Serves
4
Ingredients
- 2 x 400g tins of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 400ml veggie stock
- 200ml unsweetened oat milk
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
- 1/2 tbsp white miso paste
- 1/2 tbsp tamari sauce + extra for drizzling
- 50g cavolo nero or kale, de-stemmed and finely chopped
- 200g mixed mushrooms (I used a mix of chestnut and shiitake), sliced
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Serve with
- a sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley
- a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil
Method
To make the creamy broth, put 120g of cannellini beans into a blender with the veggie stock and oat milk. Blend until smooth, then set to one side.
Put one tablespoon of the olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. When it’s hot, add the chopped shallots, carrot and celery. Cook for eight to 10 minutes, until the shallots start to caramelise. Add the crushed garlic, bay leaf and thyme leaves and cook for another couple of
minutes. Keep stirring, as garlic can burn very easily. Add the miso paste and tamari sauce, stir to combine, then add the remaining cannellini beans and the creamy broth. Turn the heat down to a
simmer and cook the stew for 20 minutes, until it has started to thicken. Add the chopped cavolo nero, mix everything together and cook for another five minutes, until the cavolo nero has softened.
While the bean stew is simmering away, cook the mushrooms. Put the remaining oil into a frying pan and once it is hot, add the sliced mushrooms. Cook them on a medium heat for 10 minutes, until they start to brown around the edges and all the water has evaporated. Drizzle with tamari sauce and remove from the heat.
Serve the cannellini stew with the pan-fried mushrooms piled on top, a sprinkle of chopped parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
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