CTV Recipes
Search Recipes
Veggie stew with dumplings
Growing up in freezing northern Alberta winters meant coming home to lots of warm one-pot dishes, including stew with dumplings, which remains one of our Granny’s favourite meals to make. Of course, our childhood version was loaded with beef. We set out to create a veggie stew with all of the richness and heartiness of its meaty counterpart, and we are pretty darn happy with the result, if we say so ourselves! Adding the cold vegan butter at the end really softens the flavour of the stew. The dumplings really expand while cooking, so do not be tempted to make them bigger than the suggested size.
SERVES
TO
Ingredients
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1-1/2 cups finely chopped yellow onion (1 large onion)
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 255 grams quartered white and/or brown mushrooms (about 3 cups /750 mL)
- 1 cup red wine (we use cabernet sauvignon)
- 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 5 centimeter lengths
- 3 large yellow potatoes, peeled and quartered (about 450 grams)
- 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 5 centimeter lengths
- 4 to 5-1/2 cups vegetable stock (we use beef-flavoured vegetarian stock)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon cold vegan butter
- 1 cup frozen peas
Dumplings:
- 1-1/4 cups (300 milliliters) unsweetened almond milk or soy milk
- 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) vegan butter
- 2 cups (500 milliliters) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) salt
- 1/3 cup (75 milliliters) finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Directions
- Make the veggie stew. Tie the bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme sprigs together tightly with cooking twine and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a medium, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, three to five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are soft, about five minutes.
- Add the red wine, stir well, and cook until the wine is reduced by about half.
- Add the herb bundle, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, four cups of the vegetable stock, and tomato paste. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until the vegetables are fork-tender, 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more stock if the stew gets too thick.
- Remove the herb bundle and discard. Season stew with salt and pepper. Stir in the cold vegan butter.
Dumplings:
- Combine the almond milk and vegan butter in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Pour the milk mixture int the flour mixture, add the parsley (if using), and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined (it will look rough).
- Stir the peas into the stew. Using floured hands, pull off golf-ball-sized balls of dough and gently drop them evenly on top of the stew. Cover and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through and have doubled in size, about ten minutes. Ladle the stew into bowls, top with some dumplings, and serve.
Excerpted from Fraiche Food, Full Hearts: A Collection of Recipes for Every Day and Casual Celebrations by Jillian Harris and Tori Wesszer. Copyright © 2019 by Jillian Harris and Tori Wesszer. Photography copyright © 2019 by Janis Nicolay. Published by Penguin Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
