Save Money Good Food's rich bean stew recipe

Rich bean stew is the ideal midweek meal for the whole family, as it's really quick to prepare and super cheap. You will only need 15 mins to prep this bean stew recipe, and another 35 mins to let it cook, so you can have dinner on the table in less than an hour. This bean stew recipe serves six people, so you can feed your family and probably still have leftovers for the next day. If you do have leftovers, this bean stew is a great filling for a cannelloni dish. To make this bean stew, you'll need to use pork mince, which tends to be cheaper than turkey or beef mince, so you can save some pennies and still give your family a filling meal. Matt Tebbutt whipped up this recipe in ITV's Save Money: Good Food with Susanna Reid, as a way for families to use up their leftovers and save money on their food shop. They say: 'Pulses and legumes are a brilliant source of protein that taste great, are cheap and also make your tummy full. If you have any of the stew left over, use it to fill cannelloni for an easy and delicious meal on another day.'

Ingredients

• 1½ tbsp vegetable oil 
• 2 rashers smoked bacon, cut into 1cm slices 
• 1 onion, peeled and diced 
• 100g carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 celery stalk, washed and diced
• 375g minced pork
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 6 sage leaves, finely chopped
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 5cm orange peel
• 300ml chicken stock
• 1 x 400g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 x 400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 80g breadcrumbs
• 20g Parmesan, grated

Method

1. To make this Save Money Good Food recipe, heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium to high heat and, when hot, add the bacon, onion, carrot and celery and stir-fry for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are just starting to soften.
2. Turn the heat up to maximum and add the pork. Fry, breaking the pork up with a spoon as it cooks.
3. Add the tomato puree, sage, rosemary and orange peel and continue to fry for 2 minutes. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer.
4. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/Gas 5.
5. Tip the beans into the pan and simmer everything together for 10 minutes with the lid on and then a further 10 minutes with the lid off.
6. Tip into a baking dish, top with the breadcrumbs and Parmesan and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbling and the crumbs have turned golden brown.