When the weather is still a bit chilly, I like to serve more stews to my family for a hearty meal. Especially one that is rich with vegetables and beans. Italian Portobella Stew is a favorite of the men in my family. Even the aroma of it cooking gets their mouth-watering. They love the chewiness of it from the potatoes and mushrooms plus all the Italian flavors we love so well. At our recent cooking class, we had young children come to the buffet table for 4 or 5 servings! So I know it is definitely kid-friendly.
There are many veggies to chop but you can cut your time by using a Vidalia Chopper. I used red potatoes, slicing them in 3-4 circles. The chopper made it easy to cut them up in bite-size cubes. If you want bigger chunks of potato, you might cut them in quarters.
This soup makes its own creamy gravy–using low-sodium vegetable broth, the mushrooms, liquid aminos and tomato paste. After the soup is complete, I also remove about 2 cups of it to a separate bowl and blend it with my immersion blender. Or you can use your regular blender. Puree the soup, then add it back to the stew and stir it in. This helps make the gravy for you without having to add any kind of flour or thickener. Easy as pie! I often do this with other thick soups as well, such as potato soup.
And, of course, you can’t miss adding a delicious Italian bean. Cannellini is my favorite, so I use it with this recipe. I like to add beans to many dishes because they give me lots of tasty fiber. The fiber found in all legumes protect us from a variety of diseases including heart disease and cancer. It will also lower your blood pressure, stabilize your blood sugars and prevent diabetes. And the more fiber you eat, the easier it is to manage your weight, especially if you’re trying to drop a few pounds.
Italian Portobella Stew
Ingredients
- 1 large onion coarsely chopped
- 3 medium carrots cubed or cut into circles
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp Liquid Aminos
- 2 cups water
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 15 ounce cans of cannellini beans
- 1/3 cup tomato paste
- 2 tsp dried thyme or 3 tablespoons of fresh thyme
- 1 T paprika
- 2 tsp oregano
- 4 cups of portobella mushrooms chopped
- 6 cups potato chunks
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
- Salt and dried basil to taste
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with water and place on medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook until softened. This should take about 5 minutes. Add onions, celery, carrots, garlic and water. Cook until vegetables begin to become tender (about 5 minutes more). Stir occasionally.
- Add the broth, potatoes, tomato paste, and liquid aminos. Bring to a boil, covered. Reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the carrots and potatoes are very tender. Add the canned beans, herbs and salt; cook for 5 minutes more. Stir in enough basil to taste. Finally, place 2 cups of the stew into a blender; process briefly. Add this mixture back into the stew pot. This thickens the stew. Stir in the chopped parsley at the very end.
