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Sun-Dried Tomato and Mushroom Bean Stew

Adapted from Crescent Dragonwagon
Course Entree
Keyword bean, mushrooms, stew, sun-dried tomato
Author TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

For the beans:

  • 2 cups dried Yellow Eye beans
  • 1 cup dried rice beans, you can use 3 cups of your choice of dried beans in place of these
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 t salt
  • 1 small handful of dried porcini mushrooms

For the stew:

  • 4 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 T minced fresh thyme leaves
  • 3 carrots, sliced into rounds or half rounds, depending on thickness
  • 1 1/2 lbs crimini mushrooms, sliced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 t aleppo pepper, or more to taste
  • AllStar Organics rosemary salt, to taste (see here for where I discuss or just sub 1 t dried rosemary or 1 T fresh)
  • 3 T AP flour
  • 8 sun-dried tomato rounds, either packed in oil or soaked in hot water
  • 1 cup red wine of choice
  • 1-3 T balsamic vinegar, to taste

Instructions

  1. Begin the beans earlier in the day (or the day before!) by placing in a 4 quart pot with the onion, garlic, and oil. Cover with cold water by 2 inches. Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for 5 minutes. Then cover and reduced heat to maintain a very low simmer. When the beans are barely tender, add the salt and dried porcini mushrooms and let simmer until completely tender (how long this will take can vary wildly--I use Rancho Gordo beans and can count on beans within 3 hours or so). Then turn off the heat and set aside or store in fridge until the next day.
  2. Place the sun-dried tomatoes and red wine into a blender and puree. You can either do this in advance with the beans or you can do it as you work on the aromatics for the stew.
  3. About one hour before dinner, heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add 2 tablesopons of the extra virgin olive oil, and when it is shimmering, add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until light golden, at which point add the garlic, aleppo pepper and thyme. Cook another 2 minutes, stirring. Add the carrots and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Make a space in the center of the veggies, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and add half of the mushrooms. Let them cook, undisturbed, for about 4 minutes. Then stir them into the onion mixture. Repeat with the remaining mushrooms and oil. Then stir the flour in. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes to cook the raw flour.
  5. Slowly pour the red wine/sun-dried tomato puree into the pot as you stir, being sure to absorb the flour into the liquid (much like making a béchamel). Add the beans with their cooking liquid. If the stew seems too thick or dry, you could also add a little water or stock, but mine did not need it. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and let gently boil for 5 minutes. Then reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
  6. Add 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Taste for more vinegar, salt and pepper. If you have the Rosemary Salt from AllStar Organics, a little more here is nice, but don't stress if you do not have it. Anyone who wants their stew kickier should sprinkle some extra aleppo pepper over it. We loved this served over farro.