Mixed Bean Hotpot

V

This easy one-pot dish of beans and vegetables makes a nourishing winter main course and needs no accompaniments. The combination of sugar, wine vinegar and passata gives it a tasty sweet and sour flavour.

Serves 1

2.5 ml/½ tsp light brown sugar
5 ml/1 tsp red wine vinegar
5 ml/1 tsp Worcestershire sauce or dark soy sauce
1 small garlic clove, crushed, or 2.5 ml/½ tsp garlic purée (paste)
150 ml/¼ pint/2/3 cup passata (sieved tomatoes)
4 spring onions (scallions), trimmed and sliced
½ x 400 g/14 oz/large can of mixed beans, drained and rinsed
75 g/3 oz fresh or frozen green beans, trimmed if fresh and halved
75 g/3 oz fresh or frozen sliced mushrooms
150 g/5 oz potato, peeled and roughly cut into 2 cm/¾ in chunks
1.5 ml/¼ tsp dried mixed herbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the sugar, wine vinegar, Worcestershire or soy sauce and garlic in the ceramic cooking pot. Add a little of the passata and stir until blended. Stir in the rest of the passata.
2. Add the spring onions, mixed beans, green beans, mushrooms, potato chunks and herbs. Season with salt and pepper, then stir everything together.
3. Cover with the lid and switch on the slow cooker to Auto or Low. Cook for 4-6 hours or until the vegetables are tender. Spoon on to a warm plate and serve straight away.

Cook's tip
Transfer the remaining half-can of beans to a small container, cover and store in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze.

---