spring vegetable stew (vignole)

servings
4

method

Vignole, or vignarola, is a Roman word to describe this incredible stew which is a celebration of spring. Please please try it – you will end up making it forever! If you don’t have any chicken stock to hand, just use some of the water you cooked the beans, leeks and chard in. You can leave the cooked prosciutto in or take it out before serving it, as you like. This is absolutely lovely tossed into cooked, drained pasta. And you must try it with asparagus if you can.

Put the artichokes into a pot of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Cook for about 10 minutes or until tender (check by inserting a knife into the heart) and drain. Allow to cool, then peel back the outer leaves till you reach the pale tender ones and remove the choke using a teaspoon. Tear the hearts into quarters.

Fill the pot with water again, add some salt and bring to the boil. Blanch the broad beans for a minute, then remove from the water with a slotted spoon and drain. Blanch the leeks for 3 or 4 minutes until tender, and the spinach or chard until just wilted.

Heat a large saucepan, big enough to hold all the ingredients, and add a good splash of oil. Cook the onion very gently for about 10 minutes until soft, add the chicken stock and the peas and bring back to the boil. Lay the slices of prosciutto over the top and simmer gently for about 10 minutes until the peas are cooked and soft, and the prosciutto has flavored them nicely.

Tear the leeks into strips and stir them into the peas with the roughly chopped spinach or chard, the artichokes and the broad beans. Bring back to simmering point and let all the vegetables stew together very slowly for about 10 more minutes.

• from Jamie's Italy

Taste, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the chopped herbs and a good few glugs of olive oil before serving.

ingredients

• 4 small or violet artichokes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 340g podded fresh baby broad beans
• 6 baby leeks, or 1 regular leek, outer leaves removed, cut into 8cm/3 inch lengths, washed
• 200g spinach or chard, picked and washed
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small white onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 310ml chicken stock
• 340g podded fresh peas
• 4 thick slices of prosciutto
• a small bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked
• a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked

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1. by Andres on Sun 18 Dec 2011 @ 17:49

Hi Jamie If you come to Peru sometime, call me and we'll coke some recipes together. I like too much your cooking.

2. by Peter on Tue 24 May 2011 @ 00:29

4 thick slices of Italian bacon Prosciutto is not "Italian bacon". Pancetta is "Italian bacon". Oliver mentions that you can either add the prosciutto if you wish - so it's your choice. Vegetable stew doesn't mean vegetarian, so allow those of us who don't mind meat to indulge.

3. by Magdalena Matemales on Mon 23 May 2011 @ 18:18

Este plato lo hacemos igual en Mallorca y se llama "Greixera de faves" esta bueniiiiiisimo.Me gusta .

4. by morchella on Tue 17 May 2011 @ 15:20

Hmmm... a vegetarian stew with chicken stock and 4 thick slices of Italian bacon?

5. by abbieanne thompson on Tue 07 Jul 2009 @ 11:18

hi my name is abbieanne thompson i am 13 years old

6. by abbieanne thompson on Tue 07 Jul 2009 @ 11:14

i like all of the food there on the menu

7. by christine cooke on Mon 04 May 2009 @ 03:56

I think Jamie Olivers recipes are the BEST and he is brilliant at everything he does, plus he is a nice guy, so all in all you can't get any better than that can you?

8. by ecogirl on Fri 24 Apr 2009 @ 08:35

hi ya jamie
lovely recipesy
ecogirl

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