Spring veggie casserole with little herb dumplings

Vegetarian casserole recipe for 6 people, takes only 20 mins; recipe has self-raising flour, butter, mature cheddar, parsley, olive oil, shallot, new potato, garlic clove, baby carrot, fennel bulb, vegetable stock, white wine, muscovado sugar, light soy sauce, green bean, chestnut mushroom, courgette, cornflour, red chilli and parsley.

Spring veggie casserole with little herb dumplings

Spring veggie casserole with little herb dumplings

Recipe by Chef Soomro Course: Vegetarian casserole
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

45 mins

Ingredients

  • Garlic Clove: 3 peeled garlic cloves, cut in half lengthways
  • Red Chilli: 1/2 fresh red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
  • Olive Oil: 3 tbsp light olive oil
  • Vegetable Stock: 600ml boiling vegetable stock (Marigold Swiss bouillion is good)
  • Courgette: 200g baby courgettes, each cut into 4 chunks, or 2 courgettes cut in sticks
  • Green Bean: 200g green beans, trimmed and cut in half
  • Parsley: 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • Butter: 50g butter at room temperature, cut in pieces
  • Shallot: 8 shallots, peeled and cut in half lengthways
  • New Potato: 250g small new potatoes, cut int half
  • Self Raising Flour: 100g self-raising flour
  • Fennel Bulb: 2-3 fennel bulbs (about 500g total weight), each cut into 8 wedges
  • White Wine: 300g fruity white wine, such as sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio
  • Muscovado Sugar: pinch of muscovado sugar, light or dark
  • Chestnut Mushroom: 250g chestnut mushrooms, halved if large
  • Cornflour: 2 tsp cornflour
  • Mature Cheddar: 50g mature cheddar, finely grated
  • Baby Carrot: 200g baby carrots, scraped but left whole
  • Light Soy Sauce: 1/2 tsp light soy sauce

Directions

  1. To make the dumplings, rub the flour and butter together so it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the cheese, parsley and salt and pepper to season and set aside.
  2. Heat the oil in a large pan or flameproof casserole (about 3.5 litres) over a high-ish heat, then throw in the halved shallots. Fry for 2-3 minutes till beginning to soften and turn brown and gold in places. Now still working on quite a high heat, add the potatoes and watch for the same effect, about 5-7 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon and generally moving the pan about a bit. Add the garlic, carrots and fennel, allowing a couple of minutes between each so they get a chance to release their flavours. Pour in the stock along with most of the wine, then stir in the sugar and soy sauce and return to the boil. Simmer covered for 10 minutes. If preparing ahead make up to the end of step 2, cool and chill for up to five hours. About 20 minutes before you are ready to serve, bring back to the boil, and continue with step 3.
  3. Stir about 2 tbsp of water into the dumpling mixture to form a soft dough. Break off small pieces to make 20-25 dumplings, then shape into rounds about the size of a cherry tomato. Add the green beans and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms and courgettes. Stir the cornflour into the remaining wine until it has dissolved, then stir into the casserole until it thickens. Bring to the boil, stir well then gently place the dumplings on top. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer gently for about 15 minutes till the dumplings have risen, and the stew is rich and thick and the vegetables deliciously tender. Check the seasoning.
  4. Mix the chilli and herbs together in a small bowl and scatter on top of the casserole.