Mary Berry’s ‘colourful’ vegetable stew uses one ingredient for extra fibre (Image: Getty)
Fibre is a nutrient of public health concern because low intakes are associated with health concerns. Eating is linked to a lower risk of many health conditions, including , , , and .
Packing enough of it into your daily meals can be challenging, but ‘s classic stew makes it easy.
Mary’s ‘Samb’ is inspired by the South Indian Sambar dish, a lentil-based vegetable stew. She calls upon and lentils, considered a superfood by many, to pack a range of nourishing nutrients into one meal.
A cup of cooked lentils provides around 15g of fibre, significantly contributing to the .
Sharing the in her book ‘s Absolute Favourites, the British cooking icon said: “This colourful dish is lovely to be served warm with chops or fish or on its own with bread. It can also be eaten cold as a salad.”
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This traditional South-Indian dish is known as ‘Sambar’ (Image: Getty)
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Mary Berry’s fibrous stew recipe
Ingredients
- Four tbsp olive oil
- Two large onions, chopped
- One leek, sliced
- Five garlic cloves, crushed
- One red pepper, deseeded and diced
- 250g (9oz) dried Puy lentils, rinsed
- 100ml (3½fl oz) white wine
- 600ml (One pint) chicken or vegetable stock
- One large butternut squash (about 800g), peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm chunks
- One tbsp Dijon mustard
- Three tbsp chopped parsley
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
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This stew must be cooked using a combination of the stove and the oven. To ensure the oven is hot enough for perfect results, preheat it to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7.
Take a deep frying pan and heat two tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, leek, garlic and red pepper and fry over medium-high heat until they soften.
Mary recommended leaving the lentils unseasoned before cooking them to avoid toughening the outer skins. Add the lentils plain and raw to the pan, then pour in the white wine and stock and bring to a boil.
Keep stirring the mixture as it boils, then cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat and simmer for 40 to 45 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
If there is still a lot of liquid, remove the lid for the last five to ten minutes. Meanwhile, pour the remaining oil into a large roasting tin. Add the chopped squash, tossing to coat it in the oil, and season it with plenty of salt and pepper.
Roast the colourful squash in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and tender. Once cooked, add the roasted squash to the lentils and season with salt and pepper.
Finally, stir in the mustard and parsley and serve hot. This should provide six portions of stew.
Mary says this is ideal for making up to one day ahead. She suggests cooking it as stated and leaving the stew to cool completely before transferring it to a covered container.
Keep the stew in the fridge and reheat in portions as and when you want to eat it.