Vegetable Stew with Dumplings

Healthy comfort food for the colder days, this Vegetable Stew with Dumplings ticks all the boxes. It tastes like really good boeuf bourguignon, but without the meat. Fried mushrooms providing meaty umami flavour, butter beans add protein while the butternut squash acts as carb and veggie at once, leaving you warm and satisfied. Cheesy herb dumplings crown this hearty stew and soak up the rich red wine sauce.

 

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• Why You Will Love This
• The Ingredients
• The Process
• Meal Prep

Why You Will Love This 

There is so much to love about this stew, so let’s start with the core flavour here.

Tastes very similar to Boef Bourguignon

The Mushrooms give this Vegetable Stew a distinct “Boef Bourguignon” flavor. The layers of flavor are build in the same way, starting with the mirepoix, dusted with flour, browned and later doused in red wine, whose alcohol content evaporates during cooking, leaving behind just incredible flavor.

5 of your 5-a-day

I’m a big fan of any dish that gives me all my veggies for the day in one cosy bowl *. This is one of them.

Mushrooms, squash, spinach and butter beans, who double as protein, and the trinity of carrots, celery and onion of the mirepoix, plus of course a can of chopped tomatoes, all contribute. Adding at least 5 plants to my main meal every day is one of the main strategies that helped me lose 70lb within 1 year.

Gets better the next day

If you love super easy meal prep, it doesn’t get any better than stews. One large pot you can either put in the fridge later or portion and freeze. It tastes even better the day after when the flavors ahd time to get to know each other.

No Meat

I know, the carnivores among you might object to this as being a positive, but give it a try and you’ll know why I feel it’s fantastic. The flavor is intensely “meaty” and won’t leave anyone missing the beef. Yet it’s really good for you and the planet.

Flexible

You can alter this Vegetable Stew in a million ways by adding whatever veggies you have on hand. You may go the Julia Child way of adding small pearl onions, add carrots instead of squash, add potatoes instead of the dumplings as carb source or simply additional.
The beans can be replaced with whatever legume you have on hand.
For the greens, you could also use kale and even green or red finely sliced cabbage.
You can make this with just broth instead of red wine if cooking for kids or alter the intensity of the red wine flavour by changing the ratios.

The Ingredients

Mushrooms

The star of the show here are the mushrooms, which take on the role meat usually does, of providing meaty flavour and lots of umami. I keep hearing people hate the texture of mushrooms, perceiving them as “slimy”. Testing with friends who claimed just that, I found the trick is to fry the mushrooms until nicely browned, which releases some of their water and leaves you with a meatier texture with tons of roasting aroma, which will give this Vegetable Stew its rich feel.

I’m using 2 parts brown chestnut mushrooms and 1 pack Shiitake. But if you find forest mushrooms, feel free to add those, as they add incredible flavour.

As added flavour component for more umami, I’m also using porcini mushrooms that I soak in hot water, using then both the liquid and the finely chopped mushrooms to the stew.

Butter Beans

Leaving out the meat means, I want to add another form of protein and what is better in stews than beans? I love the big soft butter beans, but you could use any legume you like here. Cannellini beans are a fabulous replacement, or kidney or black beans. Lentils and chickpeas would be lovely, though I always feel they stay a bit too firm for my taste.

Butternut Squash

While you could easily use carrots and potatoes here, I feel the fall season really calls for squash. I lends some sweetness to balance all the hearty flavours above and melts in your mouth, while leaving you satisfied with fibre and carbs.

Spinach

If you read some of my recipes and my “about” section, you probably know that one of my “secrets” to weight loss is, to add as many vegetables as possible to my recipes, to add bulk and flavour to my meals with very low caloric density. I’m doing the same here. Sneaking in greens in form of spinach is a fantastic way to get your greens without even noticing, as it just melts into the stew with a very neutral flavour.

Red Wine

While you could make this with just broth, the red wine gives this Vegetable Stew an incredible richness you usually just find in good meat stews. It is reduced and will soak up all the fantastic roasting aromas we get from frying the veggies first.

For the type of red wine, you could use the originally recommended Burgundy Julia Child uses. Personally I love new world wines, as I feel the flavour to price ratio is more favourable in them. So I used Chilean Diablo Vulcanic Cabernet Sauvignon from Tesco, which did a fabulous job enriching this stew.

Broth

I’m using ready made vegetable broth here, to keep this suitable for vegetarians. You could easily use beef broth here if you want even more meaty flavour without meat chunks.

Mirepoix

The fancy word stands for the classic mix of celery, carrots, and onions, which makes the base of pretty much every good stew or soup out there. Being fried gently until soft and then taken a little further to let it caramelize, adds the brown bits on the bottom of the pot, to give you depth of flavour for your sauce.

Herbs

Rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and parsley are my choices here, as they add depth and herby richness to anything they touch. I’m using fresh, as I adore the intensity they bring, but you could use dried in a pinch.

Pantry Ingredients

Tomato paste and plain flour to thicken the sauce and give it incredible richness. Don’t skip these, or you’ll have watery stew.
A can of chopped tomatoes adds more depth and colour to the sauce, but don’t worry, this will not make it into tomato sauce.

The “Secret” Ingredients

You know these fancy restaurant stews you taste and wonder what on earth they did, to get this super rich and deep, layered flavour? Me too.
I found, that adding a mix of balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and maple syrup gives me just that. Just a hint of sweetness, to balance the acidity of the canned tomatoes and tomato paste with the maple syrup, layers of sweetness and acidity from the balsamic, while underlining the notes from the red wine. Rich umami notes from the soy sauce, which sounds counter intuitive in a fairly French inspired stew but trust me here and try it. I promise you won’t look back.

Cheesy Herb Dumplings

Dumplings on a stew basically scream comfort food and these Cheesy Herb Dumplings are no exception. They are super quick to make with very few ingredients you probably have at home and just cook for about 30 minutes with the stew. Cheese and herbs give lots of flavour, which, in my mind, makes them a better option than just bread to soak up the lovely juices.

I’m using lard I had left from my Slow Roasted Cuban Pork Shoulder, which gave them extra flavour. You can use suet, vegan suet or butter for them.

Cheese wise I specify mature cheddar in the recipe, even though I used aged Gouda (Old Amsterdam), as it’s easier to find. Both a good options. Or any grated aged cheese you have and want to use up.

Self raising flour can be replaced by plain white flour with 1/4 tsp baking powder.

Gremolata

Gremolata is typically a dressing or garnish made with chopped parsley, garlic, and grated lemon zest, served as an accompaniment to meat or fish. And while we have neither here, I’m using it to dollop over the stew in the end, to give it a component of zingy freshness I really enjoy. Non-traditional toasted pine nuts also give a bit of crunch and a gentle, lingering nutty taste that will stay with you long after the last bite.

The Gremolata is optional, but only takes minutes to make in a food processor * and will lift the stew from really good comfort food to something more, by adding fresh lemony-herb and nut notes to each comforting bite.

The Process

Or: Why does this taste so similar to Boef Bourguignon?

I’m basically using many of the tricks Julia Child was using in her fantastic original recipe from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”.
Except, of course, the meat. Which means we need to extract as much flavour as we can from vegetable sources.

First dried porcini mushrooms are soaked in hot water, giving us even more meaty umami flavour to add to the stock later.

Roast the Squash

Pre-heat your oven to 400°F/200°C

Instead of just cooking the squash, which would leave it slightly watery, I pre-roast it, to cook out some of its water and caramelize the edges. It gets added to the pot just before the dumplings, to not dissolve.

On a parchment lined baking sheet, mix your bite sized pumpkin cubes with 2 tbsp olive oil, some salt, pepper, and 1 tsp of your chopped herbs. Roast for about 30-40 minutes until caramelised at the edges. Stir once or twice if your oven heats unevenly.

Mirepoix

Heat large cast iron pot slowly to medium-high temperature. Add some olive oil.

I’m frying the mirepoix first here, as the garlic and onion flavour it leaves at the bottom of the pot will soak into the mushrooms. Then take it out, so it doesn’t burn when frying the mushrooms.

Add chopped carrot, celery, and onion. Fry until onion and veggies have taken on some colour in spots, but onion isn’t burned. Add garlic, fry for another minute or so until you see browned bits forming at the bottom of your pot.

Transfer the mirepoix to a plate while you fry the mushrooms.

Mushrooms

Fry mushrooms (In about 3 batches, so they fry instead of cooking in their own juices.) until nicely browned and crispy in spots. Take your time with this, don’t stir too often. Transfer to a bowl * or plate and set aside while you fry the remaining batches.

Assembly

Add mirepoix and all your mushrooms back to the pot.

Add tomato paste and stir, turning up the heat a little, so it starts to catch at the bottom. Dust over flour and continue stirring, until it’s well distributed. Cook, stirring frequently for about 1min.

Add red wine and let it bubble up and reduce a little, while scraping all the browned bits off the bottom of your pot.

Once it’s cooked down a bit, add chopped porcini mushrooms and their soaking liquid, beans, broth, tomatoes, and your herbs, except the parsley, which will be added just before the dumplings together with the roasted squash and spinach.

Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, covered with the lid slightly open, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the stew is reduced and getting thicker.

Dumplings

While your stew is cooking, make your dumplings.

In a bowl or your food processor* (small bowl) add the flour with a good pinch of salt and pepper, the baking powder (if not using self raising), sugar, suet or butter. (Use vegan suet and cheese if you’d like to keep this vegan), Parsley and Thyme.

Switch on your food processor * or mix by hand.
Mix in 3-4 tbsp cold water with your hands or a spoon, to make a soft, slightly sticky dough (add a little more water if needed).

Take the dough out of the food processor and knead in the grated cheese.

Divide into eight and roll into balls.

Season the Stew

After about 25min, open your stew pot* and add the chopped parsley, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and maple syrup and give the sauce a try. Adjust the seasoning to your taste, adding salt and pepper if needed. This will depend on the stock and soy sauce you used and of course your preferences. Take out the bay leaves at this point.

Your strew should have thickened a bit by now. You can see how far mine cooked down by the marks on the pots sides. It will cook down a little further when you add the dumplings. So we still expect there to be plenty of liquid at this point. If you like yours very thick, leave to cook with an open lid for about 15min more.

Spinach and Squash

When you are done with the dumplings below, short before adding them to the pot, add the raw, chopped spinach and stir into the stew. It will wilt immediately. Add the roasted squash and fold in.

Adding the Dumplings

Top your stew with the dumplings and press them down very slightly, so their top half is above the liquid.

Cover with the lid and cook for another 20-25 minutes, until they are risen, fluffy and cooked through.

For crispy and brown tops, pre-heat the broiler of your oven, take off the lid of your pot and let them brown for a few minutes.

Gremolata

Meanwhile, make your Gremolata (if using).
Grate the zest of your lemon and squeeze out about 2-3 tbsp of the juice. Catch any pips.

 Add all ingredients to the small bowl of your food processor* and pulse until finely chopped.
Alternatively chop by hand and mix in small bowl.

And your Gremolata is done. You can use it not just on stew, but any type of meat or fish dish or even pasta, to elevate the flavour. You just learned how to make a magic ingredient.

If you decided to broil your dumplings for a little browning, they will be done now.

Serve your Vegetable Stew with Dumplings topped with the gremolata (optional) and maybe some good sourdough bread, for mopping up the sauce.

Meal Prep

As usual, I prepared this Vegetable Stew with Dumplings on my weekend, to have easy and nutritious food for my workdays. It keeps for about 4-5 days in the fridge and freezes well. I left it with the dumplings for freezing, but ideally I’d say, if you plan to freeze, make them ahead, but freeze uncooked in a small bag, then add to the stew while you heat it, cooking them for about 25-30 minutes until puffed up and cooked through.

Other cosy recipes you might enjoy:

Looking for a matching cosy autumn dessert? Try my Sourdough Pumpkin Apple Muffins with Protein.
Or for a bread to mop up the delicious sauce and make this more substantial? German Sourdough Rye Beer Dutch Oven Bread would go absolutely fantastic with this stew.

More recipes to get your 5-a-day in one meal:

Grilled Mango Burrata Salad with Bacon

Sweet Potato Grape Salad with Goats Cheese

Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please share. It helps me a lot.