Looking for a comforting, flavourful vegan dinner recipe? If you’re looking to liven up boring meals, try this ‘bean-otto’ with kombucha-braised leek. This dish by our friends at Plant Academy is sure to impress!
Recipe extracted from Plant Academy: The Cookbook by Lauren Lovatt, Leaping Hare Press. Out Now!
For the kombucha-braised leek:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large leek, washed well and cut into 2.5cm (1in)-thick rounds
100ml (3½fl oz/scant ½ cup) kombucha
2 tbsp vegan butter
¼ tsp smoked sea salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
For the bean-otto:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, finely diced
1 small leek, white and green parts separated, washed well and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
200ml (7fl oz/scant 1 cup) non-alcoholic vegan white wine
1 x 400g (14oz) tin of butter (lima) beans, drained – reserve the aquafaba (liquid from the tin) –and rinsed
300g (10½oz) plain homemade cashew cream
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
½ tsp sea salt (optional)
½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
¼ tsp dried chilli (pepper) flakes (optional)
To serve:
Leek oil
Looking for a comforting, flavourful vegan dinner recipe? If you’re looking to liven up boring meals, try this ‘bean-otto’ with kombucha-braised leek. This dish by our friends at Plant Academy is sure to impress!
Recipe extracted from Plant Academy: The Cookbook by Lauren Lovatt, Leaping Hare Press. Out Now!
This recipe uses homemade cashew cream which needs to be prepared beforehand.
1. For the kombucha-braised leek, heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat then add the leek, making sure the cut side of each piece is in contact with the pan.
2. Cook for 5 minutes until golden then carefully turn each piece of leek to cook on the other side.
3. Add the kombucha and let it sizzle away and the leeks cook through. Cook for 5 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated, then add the butter and cook for a further 5 minutes.
4. The leek should be cooked through and golden on both sides. Finish with the smoked salt and cayenne pepper, turn off the heat and set to one side, ready to warm through before serving.
5. For the bean-otto, heat the oil in another frying pan over a low heat then add the shallot and a large pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes until translucent.
6. Add the green leek tops and garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes until everything is soft but not too coloured. Add the alcohol-free vegan white wine in three large splashes, each time turning up the heat and deglazing the pan, making sure the liquid evaporates and you cook off the alcohol.
7. Now add the beans, cashew cream and 200ml (7fl oz/scant 1 cup) of the aquafaba (if it contains salt, taste the bean-otto before seasoning with salt) and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes until the sauce is thicker but still creamy and slightly runny with piping hot beans.
8. Add the lemon juice, salt (taste beforehand) and pepper and stir gently, being careful not to break up the beans.
9. Serve the bean-otto in bowls topped with warmed-through braised leek, lemon zest, a good drizzle of leek oil and some dried chilli flakes (if you like).
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