Granted, not the prettiest dish, but what it lacks in looks is counterbalanced by amazing flavours. A veggie packed comforting stew with smokey bacon, kale and fluffy herb whole wheat dumplings. I mean, come on, it doesn’t get more comforting and tasty than that!
I was inspired by a recipe from the amazing @howsweeteats but I felt I needed more veggies. I added mushrooms, kale and for extra flavour the smokey bacon. You can also add a dash of cream for richness but I felt it wasn’t necessary (and I forgot to buy it 😉
To keep it vegetarian you can of course leave the bacon out, it will still be super tasty!
Veggie Packed Chickpea Stew with Herb Dumplings
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...Ingredients
- Stew
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 medium carrots, 1 cm slices
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 150 g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
- 300 g kale, hard stem removed and finely chopped
- 1 small leek, finely chopped
- 250 g smokey bacon (leave out to keep it vegetarian)
- 2 rosemary sprigs, hard stem removed and finely chopped
- 2 thyme sprigs, hard stem removed and finely chopped
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 750 ml chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 can of chickpeas (400 g), drained and rinsed
- Pepper & Sea Salt
- chopped fresh parsley, for topping
- Optional: 1/4 cup cream
- Herbed dumplings
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or just 1 cup all-purpose flour)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ½ tsp grated nutmeg
- Small bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Fresh rosemary, when finely chopped 1 tsp
- Fresh thyme, when finely chopped 1 tsp
- 1 egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
- Pepper & Sea Salt
Instructions
The dumplings
In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients, herbs and season well with pepper and salt.
Add the buttermilk and the egg and mix well until combined. Set aside for later.
The stew
Heat a large sauce or soup pan and add the bacon. Fry until nice and crispy, add some oil if it stays too dry. Remove with a slotted spoon, leaving behind the bacon fat, and set aside.
To the same pan add the olive and butter, when the butter has melted and is foamy add the onions, garlic, leeks, carrots and celery. Sauté for 2-3 minutes on medium heat until softened.
Add the mushrooms and chopped herbs and sauté for 2-3 minutes on medium heat until softened.
Add the finely chopped kale and stir well, making sure everything is coated with the oil, sauté for another 2-3 minutes on medium heat until softened.
Sprinkle over 3 tablespoons of flour and stir well so everything is coated with the flour. Keep frying for 2-3 minutes to let the flour cook but make sure it doesn't burn. It will stick to the bottom of the pan a bit.
Deglaze the pan with the stock (or just hot water for now and crumble in a stock cube straight after) and scrape all the goodness from the bottom of the pan while you stir.
Bring to a simmer and add the chickpeas and the bacon, if using cream you can add that now too. Taste and season with pepper and salt to your liking and bring to a simmer.
Carefully drop spoonfuls of the dumpling batter to the simmering stew and let bubble away for 7 minutes. When the time is up flip the dumplings carefully with a spoon and simmer for another 7 minutes to cook through.
Sprinkle with some freshly chopped parsley and serve!
Notes
Feel free to use your vegetables of choice. For instance, instead of kale, broccoli would be great too. And what about courgette, green beans or sweet corn? Play around with what you have lying around or what you can find at the market.
