The weather is not exactly calling for stew type of dishes yet – it is still quite hot and humid, so I continue to sport shorts and flip-flops. But I stumbled into such irresistible fresh beans that a large pot of stew was inevitable.

Of course, you can make this with dried or canned beans instead and also use any small type of pasta you like. Just be sure to adjust cooking times accordingly.

INGREDIENTS:

(Yields about 10 servings / 0.89 EUR per serving / 8.93 EUR for all)

For the stew:

1 tbsp olive oil (0.04 EUR)

1 large onion (0.10 EUR)

100 g chunk of bacon (0.80 EUR)

2 large sausages (4.00 EUR)

3 large carrots (0.16 EUR)

2 parsley roots, with their greens (0.16 EUR)

Chunk of celeriac root (0.16 EUR)

3 Roma tomatoes (0.53 EUR)

3 garlic cloves (0.10 EUR)

3 cups of fresh beans (1.60 EUR)

2-3 kale leaves (0.16 EUR)

Bunch of celery leaves (0.16 EUR)

1 bay leaf (0.03 EUR)

1 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika (0.07 EUR)

10 cups water (–)

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (0.03 EUR)

1 tsp salt (0.01 EUR)

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper (0.01 EUR)

1 cup pipette rigate, or any other small pasta (0.53 EUR)

For the roux:

2 tbsp butter (0.27 EUR)

2 tbsp all-purpose flour (0.01 EUR)

METHOD:

Start off by washing and finely dicing all the veggies and bacon. Be sure to separate any leafy things and keep them on the side. Chop the sausages into thin coins. Place a large pot with olive oil on high heat and saute onion until slightly translucent. Add bacon and sausage, then cook for a few minutes to crisp it all up. Gradually add in carrots, parsley roots, celeriac root, tomatoes and garlic cloves and cook to soften it all up.

Now add in beans, kale leaves, parsley and celeriac leaves, bay leaf, paprika and vinegar, cover with water and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and simmer with the lid cracked open for about an hour, until beans are softened and thoroughly cook. Once the beans are cooked, taste the stew and season accordingly with salt and pepper. The required amounts will vary depending on how spicy your bacon and sausages were initially. Finally, add pasta to the stew and finish cooking until pasta is done.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare roux by cooking butter and flour on medium heat while stirring constantly. The roux is done when it gets deep golden brown and starts smelling nutty. Carefully stir it into the stew, turn off the heat and serve.

This stew freezes and reheats great, so you just have emergency lunches to take to work or for those times when you’re too zonked to cook.

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Vrijeme baš i nije još ono pravo za jela na žlicu jer još uvijek poprilično vruće i sparno. Koristim priliku, pa sam i dalje u kratkim hlačama i japankama. Ali bez obzira na to, naletila na tako divni mladi grah da je veliki lonac čušpajza jednostavno bio neizbježan.

Naravno, ovo možete skuhati i sa suhim grahom, kao i sa onim iz konzerve, a unutra staviti bilo kakvu drugu sitnu tjesteninu. Samo imajte na umu da onda prilagodite i vrijeme kuhanja.

SASTOJCI:

(Za oko 10 porcija / 6,69 kn po porciji / 66,89 kn za sve)

Za varivo:

1 žlica maslinovog ulja (0,33 kn)

1 veliki luk (0,75 kn)

100 g suhog špeka (6,00 kn)

2 velike kobasice (30,00 kn)

1 grincajg (6,00 kn)

3 rajčice šljivara (4,00 kn)

3 češnja češnjaka (0,75 kn)

3 šalice mladog graha (12,00 kn)

1 lovorov list (0,20 kn)

1 žlica slatke crvene paprike (0,50 kn)

10 šalica vode (–)

2 žlice jabučnog octa (0,20 kn)

1 žličica soli (0,01 kn)

1 žličica svježe mljevenog crnog papra (0,10 kn)

1 šalica pužića, ili neke druge sitne tjestenine (4,00 kn)

Za zapršku:

2 žlice maslaca (2,00 kn)

2 žlice glatkog brašna (0,05 kn)

PRIPREMA:

Za početak operite i sitno nasjeckajte svo povrće i špek. Držite odvojene sve listove i zelenje iz grincajga. Narežite kobasice na tanke novčiće. Stavite na jaku vatru veliki lonac sa maslinovim uljem, pa kratko prodinstajte luk da bude staklast. Dodajte špek i kobasicu te kuhajte nekoliko minuta da se zahruskaju. Postepeno dodajte grincajg (osim zelenja), rajčice i češnjak i kuhajte da sve omekša.

Sada ubacite grah, nasjeckano zelenje iz grincajga, lovorov list, slatku papriku i ocat, prelijte vodom i pustite da zavrije. Smanjite vatru i kuhajte sa odškrinutim poklopcem oko 1 sat, dok se grah ne skuha do kraja. Kad se grah skuhao, kušajte i po potrebi dodajte soli i papra. Količina će ovisiti o tome koliko su vam začinjeni bili špek i kobasice. Na kraju dodajte tjesteninu i kuhajte još koliko treba tjestenini da bude gotova.

Dok se tjestenina kuha pripremite zapršku tako da na srednjoj vatri na maslacu popržite brašno, uz stalno miješanje. Zaprška je gotova kada je zlatno-smeđe boje i ima orašasti miris. Oprezno ju umiješajte u varivo i onda maknite sve sa vatre i poslužite.

Ovo varivo se super smrzava i podgrijava, tako da sada imate ručak za hitne slučajeve za ponijeti na posao, ili za one trenutke kada ste preumorni za kuhanje.