Tuscan-style white bean and tomato stew with rosemary and grilled sourdough

Serves - 4

You’ll need

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1 celery stick, finely diced
• 2 x 400g tins white beans, such as cannellini or butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 500ml vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 4 slices sourdough
• 1 small garlic clove, halved
• Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Start the base

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery with a pinch of salt, then cook gently for 8–10 minutes until softened and smelling promising. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for another minute. You want everything softened and fragrant, not browned into submission.

2. Build the stew

Stir in the tomato purée and let it cook out for a minute or two, then add the chopped tomatoes, white beans, vegetable stock and bay leaf. Give it all a good stir and bring it up to a gentle simmer.

3. Let it do its thing

Simmer for 20–25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the tomatoes have softened into the stock and the beans have started to break down slightly at the edges. If you like, crush a few of the beans with the back of a spoon to thicken things up a bit. It should feel brothy, but only just.

4. Finish properly

Remove the bay leaf, then stir in the parsley and lemon juice. Taste and season well with salt and black pepper. The lemon should not shout, just sharpen everything up a little.

5. Grill the sourdough

While the stew finishes, toast or grill the sourdough until golden on both sides. Rub one side of each slice with the cut side of the halved garlic clove, then drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. It is a small step, but a very worthwhile one.

6. Serve

Ladle the stew into bowls and serve with the grilled sourdough alongside, or perched on top if you do not mind things getting gloriously a bit messy. Finish with an extra drizzle of olive oil and a little more black pepper if you like.

A couple of helpful notes

- If the stew thickens too much as it sits, loosen it with a splash of water or stock before serving.
- A handful of cavolo nero or spinach stirred in for the final few minutes works very well if you want to add some greens.
- Good olive oil at the end makes a difference here, so use one you actually like the taste of.