Tomato and White Bean Stew (Togola) Tested

Serves     4-6

Ingredients

This dish is to be accompanied by crusty white bread torn into pieces and stirred into the finished dish.

Try Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread  with this stew.

1 large onion
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper
1 medium green bell pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 ½-3 pounds tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
1 15-oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
large handful fresh basil leaves


Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Start by cutting the onion in half, slicing through from root to stem, and then cut vertically into thin slices. Dice the bell peppers into one-inch squares. Place into a 9” x 13” baking dish and coat with the olive oil and one teaspoon of salt. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.

Core the tomatoes and cut them in half, then slice the halves into thin wedges. Remove the baking pan from the oven and add the tomatoes, one cup of water, and another teaspoon of salt; continue roasting the mixture for another 30 minutes. Halfway through this cooking time remove pan again and press on the tomatoes to help break them up a bit. If they are not looking really juicy, add some more water. Remember, you want this to be a very saucy dish so that there is ample liquid for the bread to absorb.

Now add the white beans and large handful of basil leaves and continue to roast for 15 more minutes, just until the beans warm up and the mixture is hot. Taste and adjust seasoning. You may need more salt – tomatoes and beans can absorb a lot of salt. Garnish the top with extra basil leaves.


Country:
Niger


Notes and Instructions

Serve with crusty white bread, either torn into bits and stirred into the sauce, or serve the bread on the side for mopping up the delicious juices. If you serve the bread in the sauce (which I highly recommend) make sure you don’t add too much bread, as it will double or triple in volume once it absorbs the juices.

The Prove Platter: Read Linda McElroy’s take on this recipe 

Recipe and photo credit: Linda McElroy