Stew of Borlotti Beans with Fennel

February 12, 2025

This comforting aromatic stew from Vicky Jones' excellent Beans, Peas & Everything In Between, works perfectly as a vegetarian dish of borlotti beans. If you wish you could also add some cubed tofu, pork shoulder or bacon, rubbed with crushed fennel seeds and browned in the pan with the onion and fennel wedges.

"The use of fennel reminds me of Sicily, where the wild herb grows everywhere, and the leaves are used to flavour pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines) as well as sausages and cured meats. Fennel calms flatulence – fennel oil is used in the manufacture of babies’ gripe water – so its digestive properties make it the ideal companion for beans."

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 Large or 2 Small Fennel Bulbs
1 tbsp Olive Oil
150g Small Onion or Large Shallot, chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 x 400g Can of Chopped Tomatoes
100ml Red Wine
250g Cooked Borlotti Beans
1 tsp Fennel Seeds, crushed
2 to 3 Fresh Sage Leaves
1 Fresh or Dried Bay Leaf
Bread Rolls, to serve

Method

Trim the fennel, making sure to keep any green feathery fronds for strewing later. Cut it into wedges, leaving the base intact so that it holds the leaves together while they cook.
Heat the oil in a medium-sized frying pan/skillet, and gently brown the onion or shallot and fennel, then add crushed garlic cloves and cook for another 1–2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, wine, beans, fennel seeds, sage and bay leaf. Cover the pan/skillet and cook gently for about 40 minutes.
Sprinkle with the chopped fennel fronds and serve with bread rolls.

Beans, Peas & Everything In Between by Vicky Jones, published by Ryland Peters & Small. Photography by William Reavell © Ryland Peters & Small.

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Spill the beans!

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