Fearne Cotton's vegan stew recipe

Fearne Cotton's vegan stew is the ideal dish for when you need a bit of comfort food that's really good for you. This vegan stew recipe will take you around 20 mins to prepare and another 20 mins to cook, so you'll have a filling and nutritious dinner ready in well under an hour. This recipe makes enough for four people, but you can easily double or triple quantities if you're feeding more. This vegan stew is entirely plant-based, with kidney beans for a protein punch and sweet potato for energy. Fearne says: 'After writing my first cookbook, Cook Happy, Cook Healthy, I got a lot of lovely feedback about the vegan recipes I included, so I wanted to include a few more in my second book. This stew is very hearty and is flavour-packed and full of goodness. There are the anti-inflammatory benefits of the turmeric and ginger and all the vibrant nutrients exploding from the kidney beans and the kale. It's colourful, delicious and filling: a rainbow in a bowl!'

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground turmeric (optional)
• 300g passata
• 1 large sweet potato, diced (no need to peel)
• 425g tin kidney beans
• 50g quinoa
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• 100g kale, rinsed and dried, tough stems removed, and roughly chopped
• Sourdough or spelt bread, to serve
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

1. To make this Fearne Cotton recipe first heat the oil in a pan. Add the carrot and onion and sauté for 5 minutes over a medium heat. Add the garlic, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric (if using) and a large pinch of salt and pepper and fry for another minute or two until fragrant.
2. Add the passata and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the sweet potato, kidney beans, quinoa and stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes until the sweet potato and quinoa are almost cooked. Add the kale and cook for another 5 minutes. Season well to taste.
3. Serve with a large chunk of bread to dip in.