Chickpea and pumpkin stew with gremolata

Photo: Peter McIntosh
Photo: Peter McIntosh
Fresh has searched its archives to find recipes to make your lockdown easier. This one from Daniel Pfyl, hospitality management lecturer at Otago Polytechnic, is a hearty vegetable stew for those cold days. You can use other vegetables besides pumpkin, such as mushrooms or kumara. To make a vegetarian dish, leave out the bacon.

Makes 6-8 portions

60ml extra-virgin olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

3 rashers bacon cut into strips (optional)

1 red capsicum, diced

125ml red wine

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp brown sugar

420g (1 can) chopped tomatoes in juice

1 bay leaf

1 clove

1/4 pumpkin, peeled and diced

420g (1 can) cooked chickpeas

For gremolata

zest of one lemon

2 cloves garlic

a bunch of parsley

Method

1. Dice the onion and capsicum, crush the garlic and cut the bacon into lardons (strips).

2. Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a pot and sweat the onion, capsicum, garlic and bacon until soft but not coloured. A nice smoky bacon is good. When softened, add the red wine and stir in.

3. Allow to reduce for two or three minutes, then stir in the balsamic vinegar, sugar and tomatoes. Add the clove and bay leaf.

4. Chop the pumpkin into cubes; dice carefully. It is easy for the knife to slip because it takes pressure to cut through the hard raw flesh.

5. Add the pumpkin to the pot. There should be enough liquid to cook the pumpkin, but if not, add a little stock or water.

6. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer.

7. To prepare the gremolata, pick the leaves from the parsley stalks, grate or peel the yellow zest from the lemon (avoid the white pith) and peel and crush the garlic. Chop them all together finely.

After 10 or 15 minutes test the pumpkin with the point of a knife. When done, it should be soft.

8. Add the cooked chickpeas. If you use canned ones, rinse them first.

Stir and cook for a few minutes to heat the chickpeas and check the seasoning (the bacon will be salty).

9. Serve sprinkled with the gremolata.


 

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