Balkan-Style Green Bean Stew
My Balkan-style Green Bean Stew is an easy rustic dish made with tender pork, crunchy green beans and juicy potatoes, spiced with fragrant sweet paprika and savoury. It's a comfort food and best served with fresh crusty bread.
Equipment
- a large heavy-bottomed casserole pan
Ingredients
- 500 g pork fillet cut into bite-sized cubes
- 200 g green beans cut into 2-3 pieces each
- 400 g potatoes cut into bite-sized cubes
- 1 medium tomato diced
- 1 medium yellow onion or 2-3 shallots diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic cut into large chunks
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 300 g vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon savoury spice
- 1-2 tablespoons flour for thickening
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley
- salt and pepper for seasoning
Instructions
- Gather all your ingredients. Remove the sinew from the pork fillet and and cut it into medium-sized cubes. Remove the ends from the green beans and cut them into 2-3 pieces. Dice the onion and the tomato. Peel and cut the garlic into chunks. Peel the potatoes. Leave them in water for 15 minutes to remove excess starch, then cut them into medium-sized cubes.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, add just enough water to cover the beans. Bring the water to a full boil, add the green beans. Blanch them for a couple of minutes, then transfer immediately to a sieve and rinse them with cold water from your tap. Place the par-cooked green beans in a bowl with cold water and ice until you need them.
- Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed casserole pan. Brown the meat first, then transfer in from the pan to a plate.
- Add the diced onion to the casserole pan. If the pan is dry, add more oil. Saute the diced onion for a couple of minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté until soft. Stir occasionally. Add the meat to the casserole pan. Stir the meat with the cooked onion and garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Add the chopped tomato, green beans and potatoes to the casserole pot. Stir and sauté for 5 minutes, then add the paprika. Stir to coat the vegetables and the meat in paprika and sauté for a minute.
- Pour the stock and add the rest of the spices to the casserole pan and stir to combine. Bring the stock to the boil (5 minutes).
- In a small bowl, mix 1 heaped tablespoons of flour with 4-5 tablespoons of hot stock and whisk to combine. Break any lumps of flour left in the thickening mixture before pouring it into the pot with the stew. Stir to integrate it in the stew. Reduce the heat and let the stew simmer for 30 minutes.
- Serve with fresh bread.