Beany recipes

[ina]

Vegetarian Pasta Sauce Bolognese-type

Sweat off chopped onions in olive oil. Add red lentils (about 30 – 50 g per person I'd say, depending on how greedy everybody feels – that's 1 – 2 ounces), coarsely grated carrot, finely chopped celery (or grated celeriac), chopped courgettes and/or peppers (optional), and chopped or crushed garlic. Top up with red wine (again, optional) and either tinned or chopped fresh tomatoes. Add plenty of herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, parsley...), salt or veggie bouillon and pepper, and cook to a nice, thick sauce – shouldn't take longer than 15-20 minutes. You may want to add more water or, if not red enough, tomato puree. (If it turns out too thin, I sometimes cheat and add a bit of vegetarian gravy powder – the organic version.)

This sauce is, of course, quite suitable for lasagne, too.

More recipes to follow!

Ina

[sunpuppy]

Yum, sounds great - I'm going to try it tonight.

Do the red lentils need to be soaked first? I can't remember what needs to be pre-soaked out of all the different beans and lentils...

[ina]

Red lentils cook fine without being soaked - that's why they are so good to use when you are in a hurry...

Ina

[Millymollymandy]

I bought some red ones recently - lentils apart from the French ones (Le Puy) are not always easy to find. I really fancy doing a veggie shepherds pie too!

[shiney]

Sounds like a delicious recipe Ina. I'll cut and paste that into my foodie dept on my pc!

I have a good veggie shepherdless pie if you are after a recipe MMM.

[Millymollymandy]

Yes please Shiney!

[Wombat]

Years ago I had dinner with a guy who had made boston baked beans and it was terrific! Didn't get the recipe and every one I have tried since just hasn't been as good........................Bugger!

Nev

[shiney]

OK this is a Delia Recipe again....but it's good and well tasty!


Shepherdless pie.

6oz whole green-brown lentils
4oz dried split peas green or yello
1 Pint hot water
1oz butter
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 Medium onion, chopped
2 Carrots chopped
Half green pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 clove garlic crushed
half tsp dried mixed herbs
2 pinches of ground mace
Quarter tsp of cayenne pepper
salt and freshly milled black pepper

For the topping:

8oz tomatoes peeled and sliced (I don't bother peeling them, if I'm in a rush!)
1 Small onion chopped
2oz butter
1 and half pounds cooked potatoes
2 tablespoons milk
3oz strong cheddar cheese, grated.

Begin by washing the lentils and the split peas, then put them in a saucepan with the hot water and simmer gently, covered for approx. 45-60 mins or until the peas and lentils have absorbed the water and are soft. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 375F or 190C.

In the meantime, melt the butter in a frying pan, add the celery, onion, carrots and chopped pepper and cook gently until softened, then add these to the cooked lentil mixture, after mashing it a little first. Add the garlic, herbs, spices and salt and pepper to taste, then spoon the mixture into a large pie dish and arrange the sliced tomatoes on top.

Then prepare the toping by softening the onion in butter in a small pan, then mash the potatoes, add the cooked onion, butter, milk and grated cheese and mix thoroughly. Season well, then spread on top of the ingredients in the pie dish. Bake for approx 20 mins or until lightly browned.


This looks like a bit of a faff...but...if you make a big amount you can make two pies and freeze one. They are truly delicious and even the meat eaters will scoff the lot!

[ina]

Lazy Shepherd's pie

Good for using up leftovers, or for half-preparing the day before!

Sweat chopped onions in oil, add some sliced mushrooms if you like. Mix with cooked carrots (or other veg), tin or two of baked beans, ground black pepper, chopped parsley.

Stick in greased oven-proof dish, top with mashed potatoes, sprinkle with cheese or dot with butter, and cook the usual way in oven.


Nev, I think I've got a recipe for Boston baked beans in one of my cook books at home, I'll see if I can find it - I remember they stayed in the oven a very long time!

Ina

[Wombat]

Thanks Ina!

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

I had some Boston baked beans at a barbie this summer - made by an American lady - and they were fab!!!!! I think they put maple syrup in which would account for the yummyness!

Thanks for the recipes, Shiney and Ina. Like the sound of baked beans topped with mashed potatoes! I love baked beans but they are precious here! Will try Delia's recipe. I wonder if there is any celery in the shops yet. It is only available in season in France - and then most of the time it is really horrible - bitter or hollow stalks with fluff inside. So I'm going to try growing it next year.

[shiney]

I have a Boston Baked Bean recipe somewhere, I'll dig it out.

[Wombat]

Thanks Guys!

MMM, the recipes I have seen specified molasses (yuk! Urp! Gross!) so I might try substituting maple syrup for the molasses, that sounds good to me!

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

Molasses - the only time I've ever seen this stuff was at the riding stables when I was a kid and it was given to the horses. I quite liked it!!

[ina]

And molasses is sooooooo good for you... Full of all the minerals they take out of the sugar.

MMM, can you get haricot beans? It's more bother, of course, but if you cook them and then mix them with tomato sauce (or ketchup), you get a good imitation of tinned "baked" beans. It's the same in Germany, by the way - baked beans are to be found at the deli counter, and accordingly terribly expensive. So I often took them across when I went home, because my father rather liked them.

Ina