Spinach and butter bean stew with toasted pine nuts
main | vegan | fave
When it’s cooked for longer, spinach takes on a soft and sweet personality that goes supremely well with comforting butter beans and crunchy, toasted pine nuts.
Prep 10 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
30g (3 tbsp) pine nuts
1 onion, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1½ tsp ground allspice
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 x 400g tins butter beans, drained
500ml vegetable stock, suitable for vegans
400g baby leaf spinach
¾ tsp fine sea salt
1–1½ tbsp lemon juice (ie, from ½ lemon)
steamed or boiled rice, to serve
Method
- Add the pine nuts to a large pan and stir for about three minutes, until golden brown, then scoop out onto a plate.
- Add two tablespoons of oil to the pan and, when hot, add the onion and cook for 10 minutes, until soft and browned.
- Add the garlic, allspice and ground coriander, cook for another five minutes (turn down the heat, if need be, so the mixture doesn’t catch), then add the butter beans and stock and bring to a boil.
- Handful by handful, add the spinach to the pan – at first, it will look as if it will never all fit in, but it will eventually wilt down.
- Once the spinach has wilted, add the salt, stir and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes, until the beans are super-soft and the spinach is rich, soft and dark green in colour.
- Stir through the lemon juice, finish with a big glug of extra-virgin olive oil (about three tablespoons), sprinkle over the pine nuts and serve with steamed or boiled rice.
Note: it's worth toasting the pine nuts - but watch them as they catch quickly.