Rose's Winter Stew

Serves 4, Vegan (unless you add cheese at the end)

Last night I was all set to make some chilli when Luc said he wanted to eat some bocconcini. We didn't have any fresh tomatoes or basil as he usually likes it, so I made up this (un-chilli) puy lentil stew with ingredients we DID have. And I'll make it again - it was pretty yummy!

2 x 1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 bulb fennel, chopped
1-2 T apple juice concentrate (or another healthy sweetener to take off sharp edges)
2 c good vegetable stock (mine included potato which made this stew quite thick)
1 x 400g tin whole peeled tomatoes
1 x 140g pottle tomato paste (about 3 heaped T)
1 c dried puy lentils (I didn't pre-soak)
8 shitake or other solid mushrooms, chopped into large chunks
1 x 180g jar of roasted pepper (capsicum) strips
extra water as needed, to reach the consistency you like

This is a rather slow-cooked meal so use a med-low heat so it doesn't burn.
In a large pot, heat 1 T of the oil and saute the onion and garlic. Then add the fennel and the other 1 T olive oil. Saute, adding the apple juice concentrate to partially caramelise the onion/fennel mixture.
Pour in the vegetable stock and the whole can of tomatoes, including liquid. Either break the tomatoes in you (clean) hands as you pour them in, or break them up with your spoon in the pot (hands is easier). Add the tomato paste and mix altogether.
Stir in the lentils, cover pot with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring just occasionally. Add the mushrooms and pepper strips and continue to cook. The puy lentils will take a while (30 minutes?) to cook but the good thing is they don't over-cook and go all slushy and dahl-like. You can do other things in the kitchen / nearby while this is cooking. Jamie Oliver would have whipped up a couple of side dishes, a drink and a dessert, but we were good. Just give it a stir now and then to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and add more water if needed.
When the lentils are soft enough (still firm but nice to eat) and it's looking good and stew-y, well, should be done!
I served ours with really bad homemade bread (hence no recipe) which the stew revived, and the boccocini. It doesn't need cheese at all, but the cheese needed to be eaten! If you want salt and pepper you can let people add their own at the table. Luc adds it automatically so better not to add it while cooking or he'd get twice as much; I didn't think it needed ANY.

*I just had a jar of these peppers (cheap at the Re store, Perth people) but if you don't you could leave them out, or, even better, if you have real peppers/capsicums, you could chop and add them with the fennel, or, best of all, you could roast or grill them till blackened, leave to cool in a plastic bag or container (the trapped steam helps loosen the skin from the flesh), peel off the skin, core, and chop up the flesh into chunks or strips - voila, your own roast peppers! You just need a bit more time for this.
Likewise, you could use chopped fresh tomatoes instead of tinned and reduce down your own homemade tomato paste but that takes a lot more time and work and besides, it's not tomato season.


I made a quick entree while the stew cooked. It was using fruit in season - persimmon and tamarillo, and avocado which is still in the markets and affordable right now. I love, love, love persimmons which, besides being delicious, have a beautiful star design when sliced across. When I did a homestay in Seoul, my host, the lovely Mrs Kim, used to bring her boys and I snacks of fresh fruit, peeled and sliced. It was amazing how the simple and elegant presentation made me see fruit in a whole new light - a dish in its own right. Thank you Kim family and Korea for sharing the gift of persimmon appreciation!