Lia's Kitchen

Spetzofái – the last of Blaencamel Farm’s Broad Beans Crop

Posted on September 9, 2017

Whilst I may have skipped a month of sharing recipe ideas with you inspired about one of my favourite places in Wales, it seems that the summer crop that has done so well on Blaencamel Farm’s land this summer keeps going strong this first week of September. This year the almighty broad bean has inspired various summer version of one of my favourite Greek dishes, Spetzofai, a stew which hails from beautiful Pelion on the Greek mainland (the land of the Cyclopes).

This simple sausage stew requires flavoursome, good quality sausages containing at least leek with a hint of spice, fresh seasonal vegetable and beans. The freshly podded broad beans make for a lighter and quicker version of the dish. To replace the broad beans chose either giant (Lima/Butter) beans or cannellini. As I am always inspired by my Greek heritage, Welsh producers and my local farmers’ market so I recommend you use Charcutier’s Italian fennel or their Thyme sausages for this recipe. The stew follows the same cooking method as the July 2017 Fasolakia dish which is popular in Greek cuisine. You can adapt it to make your own vegan, vegetarian and meat dishes Greek-Stylee. As usual you can source most of the recipes at the Roath and Riverside Farmers’ Market in Cardiff as well as other farmer market locations supplied by the farm in Wales.

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Ingredients (for 4 people)

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 pack Charcutier Italian Fennel or Thyme sausages, in chunky cubes (280 g)
• 1 bag Blaencamel farm broad beans, podded (250g when podded)
• 2 Blaencamel bell peppers, halved, seeded and sliced
• ½ Blaencamel Hungarian wax pepper
• 4 Charlotte potatoes, washed and halved with skin on
• Optional – half a pack of Blaencamel farm spinach (200g)
• 1 bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste or 1 large tomato grated
• ½ glass white whine
• 1.5-2 tsp. sea salt
• 0.5 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 parmento/all spice berries
• Olive oil or extra virgin olive oil

Preparation (60 min)

1. Coat the base of a wide pot with enough olive oil to cover it.
2. When the oil is hot add the cubed sausage and sauté until browned.
3. Add the onion, peppers, one teaspoon sea salt and sauté until the onion softens.
4. Add the tomato paste or grated tomato and fry for a couple of minutes stirring well.
5. Add the chunky cubed potatoes, beans of your choice and roughly chopped spinach. Stir fry for a couple of minutes until they are well coated in tomato paste and oil.
6. Add the wine and the chopped parsley. Stir well.
7. Add half to one tsp of sea salt and enough boiling water to almost cover the veg and meat (but don’t submerge them).
8. Stir well but before you place the lid on the pot to simmer for around 40 minutes, try to push the meat and potatoes to the bottom of the pot and the beans and courgettes closer to the top so that they steam.
9. From this point on do not stir so that your vegetable does not fall apart when cooked.
10. The dish is ready when the water has reduced but not fully evaporated.
11. Set aside for 20-30 minutes. Or for a real Greek meal enjoy (cold or in room temperature) the next day.

Enjoy with a chilled glass of Greek Agiorgitiko Wine .