This spicy bean recipe is a perfect warming winter dish, using lots of seasonal vegetables with a hint of chilli. We used our peri peri blend, full of herbs and dried chilli flakes, but you can always use your own herb blend with some fresh or dried chillies. Serve with a spoonful of rice and, for meat-eaters, maybe a couple of sausages, but this really does stand on its own as a marvellous vegan feast! serves 4-6

1 carton Peri peri blend (or see above)
3 tbsp oil
1 large onion
1 large carrot
1 stick celery
1 leek
1 red pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tins beans (we used cannellini), drained
150ml red wine
1 tin tomatoes

Finely dice all the vegetables - we are looking for flavour here, rather than a chunky texture.
Heat the oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion.
After about 10 minutes add the other vegetables and sauté gently for a few minutes.
Add the beans, tomatoes and wine and simmer for a couple of hours, until the beans still have a bite but the sauce has really broken down. If it is getting a little dry, add a splash of water.
Serve with plain rice, bread, couscous or even pasta!

Cook’s notes

This perfect for a slow cooker.
If you want to use dried beans rather than tinned, you’ll need about 300g, soaked overnight and then boiled until tender. A basic pressure cooker is perfect for this and takes much less time and energy.