Red Pepper and Kidney Bean Stew

This red pepper stew is made with tomatoes, kidney beans and paprika and is a delicious, nutritious and cheap vegetarian meal.

Red pepper stews are common in many countries’ cuisine. Peperonata is a well known Italian stew made with red peppers and onions. It also features in Hungarian cooking where it is called lecsó.

And in Nigeria pepper stew is also popular. The Nigerian version is usually made with meat, red palm oil and lots of chillies.

This version resembles most closely the Hungarian lecsó as we have included paprika. However we’ve made it our own by adding kidney beans for some healthy and cheap vegetarian protein.

We are cooking along with Veg Power over the next few weeks, a national campaign to encourage children to eat more vegetables. Peppers are vegetable of the week next week and we hope that this delicious red pepper stew recipe will encourage you and your family to give them a try.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 red chilli, chopped, optional
• 2 medium red peppers, chopped
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 x 400g tin of kidney beans

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and fry until soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and chilli and stir well. Cook for one more minute.
3. Add the red peppers, stir, and reduce the heat to low. Cover with a lid and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes until the peppers are softening.
4. Stir in the paprika and oregano then add the chopped tomatoes. Half fill the tin with water and add this to the pan as well.
5. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer until the sauce thickens.
6. Stir in the kidney beans and warm through.
7. Serve with rice, bread and/or salad.