A very hearty tomato stew, thickened by cashew cream. Is it Stroganoff? Strictly not of course, but then again sometimes a close brush with reality is all we need to anchor ourselves to the thin crust of sanity.
The day this dish entered our damaged and seemingly deranged world the overnight air had frozen the heavy dew on the roof at Ridgesong and long, thin tongues of ice slid off the eves as the morning sun broke weakly threw the heavy mist. Brrr….. At that, my little lovely, is what a fire is for!
Serve with Garlic Bread. Enough for two for a hearty stomach full.
Ingredients:
- 2 medium courgettes
- 1 medium aubergine
- a fistful of green beans
- 1 small onion
- lashes of garlic
- 1 tin tomatoes, or equivalent of fresh
- 1 medium red capsicum (roasted)
- a BIG dab of sweet miso
- some white wine
- about 1/2 litre of stock
- 1 cup of cashews, soaked for at least four hours in a cup of boiled water
- 1 cup of chickpeas
- lots of rosemary from the garden, chopped
- lots of parsley from the garden, chopped
- 2 to 3 tspns of hot cayenne
- 4 to 5 tspns of sweet paprika
- 1 tspn of smoked paprika
- 1 tspn of ground black pepper
- 1 tspn of ground cumin
- a generous pour of olive oil
To make:
- wizz the cashews with the liquid to cashew cream and reserve
- Barmix the onion, garlic, tomatoes, capsicum, miso, and wine. Use some of the stock too if needed
- chop the aubergine, courgette, and beans into big chunks
- lightly saute the spices to release the flavours
- add the vegetables, chickpeas, herbs, wine, stock, and sauce
- simmer for hours on a low heat (preferably on top of the lovely warm fireplace). The vegetables should be well cooked but not mushed
- stir through the cashew cream
- serve with garlic bread and red wine