Campervan stew

Campervan stew

Summer

When our eldest daughter Isla was two, Alice and I decided to save up and buy a campervan. The van was a rusty old thing, but we loved it none the less. We drove through France in her, then into Spain and back round to Italy, over three eventful months. We couldn’t afford to eat out in restaurants or anything like that, but it didn’t matter to us. We’d buy fresh herbs and vegetables at the market or by the roadside, and kept our little larder stocked with dried spices, vinegars and oils, and of course we had our camp stove in the van, too. This ‘all-in-one pot’ recipe represents the countless variations on a theme I would make for us all in the evenings. It was the perfect thing: simple, tasty and could all be brought together in one pan on my camp stove.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 mild dried chilli or a generous pinch of chilli flakes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 rosemary sprig
  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 large red (bell) pepper, halved, deseeded and cut into strips
  • 500g (1lb 2oz) new potatoes, cut into bitesize chunks
  • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
  • 1 large glass of red wine
  • 1 x 400g (14oz) can of chopped tomatoes
  • 100g (3½oz) pitted green olives
  • a small handful of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium-hot fire. Add the cumin and fennel seeds, chilli, bay leaves and rosemary. Sizzle for 20–30 seconds, then add the onion, garlic, red (bell) pepper and some salt and pepper. Fry the vegetables for 4–5 minutes, then add the potatoes and sweet paprika and stir well. Pour in the wine, followed by the canned tomatoes and 2 canfuls of water. Add the olives and bring the stew up to a simmer. Cook for 35–45 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the sauce has reduced and seems rich and thick. Remove the stew from the heat and add the chopped parsley. Season with a little more salt and pepper, then serve.

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