I was classically trained at catering college, so bringing the classic French bourguignon to life, minus the beef, was a treat. When it comes to butter beans, the recipe is madehere with canned butter beans purely for time management, but you may want to try the dried ones as well. It brings a meatier texture and consistency to the dish, plus the prep is so satisfying. As this bourguignon tastes even better the next day, prepare it a day in advance. That way, it’ll be nice and ready to satisfy those post-party, comfort-food cravings.
Ingredients
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- 3 sprigs of sage
- 30 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 250 ml boiling water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 60 g vegan lardons
- 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 200 g mushrooms, trimmed
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 3 x 400g canned butter beans, drained and rinsed (see note)
- 375 ml red wine
- 200 ml vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp water
- Knob of vegan butter
- Salt and pepper
- Finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve
Instructions
- To make a bouquet garni, tie the sprigs of thyme, rosemary and sage together with kitchen string. (This will make it easier to pull the herbs out of the sauce before serving.)
- Combine the porcini mushrooms and measured boiling water in a bowl. Set aside to rehydrate.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and sweat for 7 minutes, until softened and translucent. Chuck in the vegan lardons, garlic and whole mushrooms and cook for another 7 minutes.
- Drain the porcini mushrooms, reserving the porcini soaking liquid for later. (The water is full of umami flavour and will help add depth to your sauce.) Squeeze out all the excess water from the porcini, then finely chop them.
- Add the porcini and tomato purée to the pan and stir. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the butter beans and bouquet garni. Pour in the soaking liquid, taking care to leave out any bits of grit at the bottom. You definitely do not want that in your stock. Pour in the wine and stock.
- Mix the cornflour with the measured water to make a loose paste, then add it to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium- low. Simmer for 30 minutes, until sauce has thickened.
- Discard the bouquet garni from the bourguignon.
If you prefer to use dried butter beans, combine 600g (1lb 5oz) dried butter beans and enough water to cover in a large bowl and soak overnight. Drain, then add to a saucepan of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium- low and simmer for 1½ hours or until tender. Drain.