Tomato, fennel & butterbean casserole
Here’s another seasonal recipe we first wrote for friends, Liebherr. It’s been a pleasure to focus on some vegcentric recipes and wine pairings for Liebherr this autumn. We’ve blogged about some of the delicious grape varieties and wine pairings on Grape Minds here.
Katy first made these knockout “baked beans” back in lockdown one. Or was it two? Or three? We forget. Nonetheless they have stuck in our minds ever since and when our weekly veg box offered up some of the very last sun-ripened fennel from the continent we couldn’t resist giving it another go.
This time was equally delicious; we’ve added a little sage & walnut pesto, and a cheeky wine pairing too.
The onions, fennel and celery are cooked slowly; they become sweet and yielding and beautifully complex. Umami tomatoes and creamy butter beans make up the body of this casserole, and tangy goats cheese rests on top as it bakes in the oven… it becomes molten and velvety in parts, and caramelises in others. It adds a welcomed richness to the casserole making it hearty enough for a chilly evening.
And the wine pairing?
A Valpolicella Ripasso from Northern Italy. This is a fantastic food wine with soft richness, bright acidity and wonderful intensity of flavour thanks to a second fermentation on Amarone skins. It’s full of concentrated red fruit flavours such as stewed plums and baked cherries. While complex and generous, a Ripasso is not-too-rich and not-too-heavy and therefore an exceptional match with flavoursome vegetarian food. This pairing is a simple “what grows together goes together” number: a classic Italian stew is very happy with a classic Italian red!
Read more on Valpolicella here.
Prep time: 15-20 mins.
Cooking time: 65 mins.
This recipe serves 4.
Ingredients:
6 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions
2 stalks celery
2 bulbs fennel
4 cloves garlic
1 red chili
8 sprigs of thyme
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 pinch saffron, optional
1 tsp flakey sea salt
1 tbsp tomato paste
½ cup white wine
2 tins butter beans
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tin water
125g soft goats cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
For the walnut & sage pesto:
40g walnuts (approx ⅓ cup)
20g parmesan cheese
16-20 sage leaves
6 tbsp olive oil
flakey sea salt
1 small clove garlic
½ lemon, juice only
Method:
Start by prepping the vegetables: dice the red onions, slice the celery, and chop the fennel in half lengthways before slicing into 1 cm thick half moons.
Heat 4 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan (ideally one that can go in the oven) and start frying the red onions over a medium/low heat for 8-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel and finely slice the garlic, slice the red chilli, and strip the thyme leaves from their stalks.
After 8-10 minutes add the celery, fennel, garlic, chilli, thyme leaves, fennel seeds and saffron to the saucepan, along with a teaspoon of flaky sea salt. Stir well.
Pop on the lid of your saucepan to encourage the fennel etc to sauté and steam simultaneously for 16 mins. At this point, preheat the oven to 180C and have an oven rack near the top.
After 16 minutes remove the lid, add the tomato paste and continue frying for 4 mins. Stir often to prevent things sticking.
After 4 minutes add ½ cup of white wine and allow this to sizzle off almost entirely before adding the drained butterbeans, tinned tomatoes, and a tin of water. Stir well and bring things to a gentle simmer.
Once the oven is preheated, turn off the heat and dot the surface of your casserole with the goats’ cheese, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add a generous twist of black pepper.
Bake at the top of the preheated oven for 45 mins. If your oven allows, pop on the grill setting as well as fan for the final 10 minutes to gratinate the top.
To make the pesto simply toast the walnuts at the bottom of the oven for 6 minutes, allow to cool, then pop in a blender, food processor, nutribullet or pestle and mortar with all the other ingredients and blend. Leave as much or as little texture as you wish.
Warm the bowls in the residual heat of the oven, and enjoy this one from the comfort of your sofa with a glass of Valpolicella in hand.
