Garlic and white bean stew with gremolata
- Published: 9 Jun 15
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
Inspired by the Spanish stew ‘caldo gallego’, this white bean stew is a beautiful recipe with simple ingredients. Garlic is the star of the show, but don’t be alarmed at the quantity – the cloves mellow with lengthy cooking and provide a gentle backdrop to the white beans.
For something similar, but using just one pot, try our white bean and leek stew.
Ingredients
- 20 garlic cloves (about 2 bulbs), unpeeled
- 300ml boiling water
- 25g salted butter
- 2 celery sticks, finely sliced
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 200ml dry white wine
- 400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 400g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 250g fresh vegetable stock
- 75g baby spinach
- 3 tbsp crème fraîche
For the gremolata (see know-how)
- 2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
Method
- Put the garlic cloves in a medium bowl with their papery skins still on. Pour over the boiling water and leave for 2 minutes (or see food team’s tip). Remove the garlic, reserving the water for later, then, as soon as the garlic is cool enough to handle, remove the skins and cut each clove in half lengthways.
- Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over a low heat. Add the garlic, celery and thyme and cook gently for 3-4 minutes, being careful not to let the mixture colour. Pour over the wine and increase the heat, allowing the liquid to bubble and reduce by half.
- Add the beans, bay leaves, stock and reserved garlic water to the pan and stir. Reduce the heat to low and leave the stew to bubble gently for 30 minutes or until thickened and reduced. Use a potato masher to gently mash some of the mixture, making the stew a little thicker.
- Meanwhile make the gremolata by combining the chopped parsley, crushed garlic and lemon zest and juice in a small bowl.
- Stir the spinach through the stew and allow the leaves to wilt. Remove the stew from the heat, stir through the crème fraîche and season well. Serve in warmed bowls with the gremolata spooned generously over the top.
A recipe from One Veg by Georgina Fuggle (£11.19; Kyle Books).
- Recipe from May 2015 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 246kcals
- Fat
- 10.7g (6.5g saturated)
- Protein
- 10g
- Carbohydrates
- 19.4g (3.2g sugars)
- Fibre
- 9.8g
- Salt
- 1.9g
delicious. tips
For a more intense garlicky flavour, leave the cloves to infuse the water for 30 minutes in step 1.
Make this stew up to the end of step 3. Leave to cool, then store in an airtightcontainer in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Reheat to a rolling boil to continue with the recipe from step 4.
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Just found this recipe. It’s really yummy! My husband is not keen on vegetarian food but really loved this! I soaked the garlic cloves for about 20 minutes but I may actually soak them for a lot longer
I love this recipe because it’s perfect for all seasons as it’s comforting in the Winter but makes a light dinner when it’s warmer. I love the power that all that garlic packs into the flavour of the dish and it’s easy enough to whip up mid-week. I like to serve it with some creamy mashed potato and asparagus and mop up the sauce with a slice of crusty bread at the end. It’s one of my favourite recipes on the website!