Lazy Sunday Cooking

This is day-old pesto stew - the pesto turned
brown, but it was still delicious!

Sometimes I wake up on Sunday morning with no desire to think about food, even though we're about to head to the Hollywood Farmers Market to do our weekly grocery shopping. When this happens, I turn to Robin Robertson's Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker to inspire me to make Sunday dinner.

(Then I buy a lot of good-looking vegetables at the market and figure out what to do with them later.)

Every recipe I've made from her book works and is delicious - unlike some of the other vegetarian slow cooker books I have (see my post on squash and barley risotto - not from Robin's book.)

On a recent Sunday morning,  she inspired me to make white beans with pesto. Yum. I had vegan pesto (no cheese) in the freezer from last fall, so it was simple to defrost and stir into the stew before serving it.

It cooks for 6-8 hours, so I had time to make it when we got home from the market - I soaked the beans while we were out so they would cook more quickly.

Usually I don't bother peeling tomatoes, but it really is an easy thing to do once I've boiled the water, and it makes a textural difference. So I rose to the occasion.

Larry usually only likes pesto on pasta, but he thought this stew was just great. I hope you enjoy it too.

White Bean and Pesto Stew
1 cup dried white lima beans or other white bean1 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion (about 1 cup chopped)
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
3 tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water or vegetable stock
1/4 cup pesto

Pick over the beans and discard any stones. Wash them, then put in a saucepan, cover with 2 inches of water, and bring to a boil. Put the lid on, and let the beans simmer gently until they are tender, 90 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the age of your beans. When they are tender but not soft (no hard center), drain them and set aside. (At this point they can be refrigerated for 2-3 days until you're ready to use them.)

Warm the oil and sauté the onion until softened, about 5 minutes.

Bring a pot of water to the boil. Cut an X through the skin at the base of each tomato. Put them in the water for 30 seconds, then lift them out and put them in a  bowl of ice water. Let them cool enough to handle, then peel off the skin with your fingers, starting at the X. Then cut each tomato in half along the equator and scoop out the seeds with a small spoon or your fingers. Chop them coarsely, removing the stem end.

Scoop the cooked onions into a 4-quart slow cooker. Add the diced red peppers, chopped tomatoes, cooked beans and water or stock. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Just before serving, stir in the pesto.

Serves 4-6