Bean stew with herb dumplings

Bean stew
with herb dumplings

ingredients
425g/15oz canned cooked red kidney beans, drained
425g/15oz canned cooked haricot beans, drained
400g/14oz canned chopped plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato purée
200g/7oz canned sweetcorn kernels, drained
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 bay leaf
300ml/10fl oz vegetable stock
275g/10oz green beans, topped
and tailed, cut into lengths
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to serve
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the herb dumplings
100g/4oz self-raising flour 25g/1oz butter
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs


• Put the kidney and haricot beans in a large heavy saucepan or
flameproof casserole dish. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée, sweetcorn, garlic and bay leaf, and stir to mix through evenly.
• Pour in the stock, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, sift the flour into a bowl with a little salt and pepper. Rub in
the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles rough crumbs.
Stir in the herbs. Mix with just enough cold water to form a soft but not
too sticky dough.
• Add the green beans to the vegetable mixture. Shape the dough into
eight round balls, and carefully drop into the top of the stew. Cover and
simmer gently for 15-20 mintues until the dumplings are fluffy and risen.
• To serve, discard the bay leaf. Sprinkle the stew with the parsley, and serve hot, allowing two dumpling for each serving.
serves 4