red pepper and spinach stew

How to make red pepper and spinach stew recipe

Serves 4

Total cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
2 large red peppers, cored, deseeded and cut into large pieces
3 garlic cloves, sliced
2 teaspoons ground cumin or Mexican spice mix, such as fajita seasoning (optional)
2 tablespoons tomato purée
400 ml (14 fl oz) hot vegetable stock
400 g (13 oz) can chopped tomatoes
610 g (1 lb 3¾ oz) canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
200 g (7 oz) frozen leaf spinach, defrosted and drained
salt and pepper

Method:
Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the peppers and garlic over a medium heat for 5–6 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened.

Stir in the cumin, if using, and cook for 1 minute before adding the tomato purée, hot stock, chopped tomatoes and kidney beans. Bring to the boil, season to taste, then cover and simmer gently for 10–12 minutes until thickened slightly. Stir in the spinach for the final minute of cooking, then ladle into bowls to serve.

For red pepper & kidney bean soup, cook the peppers and garlic as for Red pepper & spinach stew until softened. Add the ground cumin and cook for a minute, then pour in 750 ml (1¼ pints) hot vegetable stock, 500 g (1 lb) sieved tomatoes or passata and 2 x 400 g (13 oz) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained, reserving about 200 g (7 oz) of the beans.

Season to taste, then cover, bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until slightly thickened. Use a stick blender to blend the soup, then stir through the reserved beans, 150 g (5 oz) defrosted chopped spinach and heat through. Ladle into bowls to serve, scattered with chopped parsley. Total cooking time 30 minutes.

red pepper and spinach stew