Preparing the Stew:

• Start by soaking the dried porcini mushrooms in hot water. Reserve the fluid and filter it through a sieve. Chop the soaked mushrooms finely.

Squash:

• Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C.
• Toss the butternut squash cubes with 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt, pepper, and 1 tsp of your chopped herbs on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for 30-40 minutes until caramelized, stirring once or twice.

Mirepoix:

• Heat a large cast iron pot over medium-high heat and add some olive oil.
• Fry the chopped carrot, celery, and onion until they take on some color without burning the onions. Add garlic and fry for another minute.
• Transfer the mirepoix to a plate.

Mushrooms:

• In batches, fry the mushrooms until nicely browned and crispy in spots. Avoid stirring too often. Set them aside.

Assembly:

• Add the mirepoix and all the mushrooms back to the pot.
• Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a minute, allowing it to catch at the bottom. Dust with flour and continue stirring until well distributed.
• Pour in the red wine and let it reduce a little while scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
• Add chopped porcini mushrooms and their soaking liquid, butter beans, can of chopped tomatoes, vegetable broth, herbs (except parsley), and balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and maple syrup.
• Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on, slightly open, until the stew thickens.

Dumplings:

• While the stew is cooking, make the dumplings.
• In a bowl or your food processor, mix the flour with salt, pepper, baking powder (if not using self raising flour), sugar, suet or butter, parsley, thyme.
• Mix in 3-4 tbsp of cold water to make a soft, slightly sticky dough.
• Take your dough out of the food processor bowl if you mixed it in there and add the cheese. Kneading it into the dough.
• Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll into balls.

Season:

• After about 25 minutes, add chopped parsley and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Take out the bay leaves.

Spinach and Squash:

• Stir in the raw chopped spinach to wilt and add the roasted squash.

Dumplings (Continued):

• Top the stew with dumplings, pressing them down slightly so the top half is above the liquid.
• Cover with a lid and cook for another 20-25 minutes until the dumplings are risen, fluffy, and cooked through.
• To brown the tops, preheat the broiler and remove the lid for a few minutes.

Gremolata:

• Grate the zest of your lemon and squeeze out about 2-3 tbsp of the juice. Catch any pips.
• Make the gremolata by adding all the ingredients to a food processor and pulsing until finely chopped. Alternatively, chop by hand and mix in a small bowl.

Serving:

• Serve the vegetable stew with dumplings topped with gremolata (if using) and garnish with extra chopped parsley. Enjoy your hearty, flavourful meal!