FLAT GREEN BEAN, TOMATO & POTATO STEW

This recipe reminds me of growing up and asking my mum, ‘What’s for lunch today?’ Whenever she made it, I would always eat two plates, as I didn’t want anything else.

The starch from the potatoes creates a sauce for the beans with the tomatoes, and the garlic sprinkled over at the end refreshes the stew.

FOR 4

1kg (unprepped weight) flat green (Romano) beans

3 large potatoes

65ml extra virgin olive oil

3 shallots, chopped

3 fresh plum tomatoes, skin on, chopped

1 bay leaf

125ml sherry or white wine

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cloves of garlic, sliced very thinly

20ml Moscatel vinegar

To prepare the beans, first clean them, then cut into the top of each bean and pull towards you to remove the stringy section down the side (if you have really good-quality, thin beans then you won’t need to do this). Cut the beans into 4cm pieces.

Peel the potatoes. Partially cut into them, then pull them apart into chunky, uneven-edged pieces similar in size to the green beans. These potatoes are called ‘cachelos’.

Put 40ml of olive oil into a pan on a medium heat and cook the shallots, then add the tomatoes and cook until paste-like, to make a sofrito. Add the potatoes, bay leaf and sherry or wine, and cook until the alcohol has evaporated. Add the green beans and enough water to cover everything, plus a little extra splash. Season with salt and pepper, then put the lid on and cook until the potatoes and beans are soft – around 20 minutes.

Put the remaining 25ml of olive oil into a separate pan on a low-medium heat, then add the garlic and cook until just golden brown – don’t let it get too brown or it will taste bitter. Turn off the heat, add the vinegar and mix together. Sprinkle the garlic over the stew before serving.