Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 can chopped tomatoes, about 400 g
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 150 g Swiss brown mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 3 cups (750 ml) vegetable stock, preferably homemade light or rich
- ¾ cup (150 g) dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight and drained
- ¾ cup (150 g) dried pinto or red kidney beans, soaked overnight and drained
- ¼ cup (15 g) chopped fresh parsley
- 1¾ cups (140 g) fresh breadcrumbs
- 1½ tablespoons (30 g) butter, melted
- salt
- pepper
- 1 cos lettuce
- 2 oranges
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- ¼ cup (25 g) flaked almonds, toasted
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 160°C.
- Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish and add the onion and garlic.
- Cook for 5 minutes over a low heat to soften the onion slightly.
- Add the nutmeg, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, celery, mushrooms, sugar and plenty of pepper.
- (Do not add salt now as it will harden the beans.
- ) Pour in the stock and stir in the cannellini and pinto or red kidney beans, then bring to the boil.
- Cover the casserole and cook in the oven for 2½ hours or until the beans are tender.
- Discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaves.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons of the chopped parsley and add salt to taste.
- Increase the oven temperature to 180°C.
- In a bowl, toss the breadcrumbs with the melted butter until it is evenly distributed.
- Spoon the breadcrumbs over the beans and return the casserole to the oven, uncovered.
- Cook for a further 45 minutes or until the liquid has thickened and the breadcrumbs are golden.
- Just before the bean pot has finished cooking, make the salad.
- Shred the lettuce and place in a salad bowl.
- Cut all the peel and pith from the oranges.
- Holding the oranges over the salad bowl, use a small sharp knife to cut the segments from between the membranes, allowing the juice and segments to drop into the bowl with the lettuce.
- Drizzle the oil over, add the almonds and toss together gently.
- Remove the bean pot from the oven, scatter over the remaining 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley and serve with the salad.
Serves 4
Preparation: 20 minutes, plus overnight soaking
Cooking: about 3½ hours