It’s been a while since I last did a post (largely due to a chutney disaster which wrote off my two saucepans, but also due to an expedition to the dreicht north, and then my birthday and then an insect infestation).

Anyway, today I popped into Waitrose after work and found some discount pork chorizo style sausages, so took some inspiration from there. I delved into my new Leon cookbook and thought I’d try this recipe which turned out EVEN better than expected.

It’s called Mima’s Greek-ish Butter Beans and (seeing as I’m still not entirely sure of cooking copyright) I thought I’d pop it up here…but you’re only allowed to make it if you spend the extra £2 on oregano and fennel seeds because it’s those extra flavours which make this so special.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 red onions
4 cloves of garlic
2 level teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2x400g tins of chopped tomatoes
2 heaped teaspoons tomato puree
4x440g tins of butter beans
200g feta cheese
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Heat the oil in a large pan. Peel and chop the onions and fry gently for a couple of minutes. Peel and chop the garlic, and add it to the pan with the fennel seeds and oregano. Cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture looks unctuous and soft.

Add the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree, and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. Add the drained beans and continue to simmer for a further 10 minutes. Season.

Crumble most of the feta into the stew, stir well, then divide between bowls and garnish with a final crumble of feta.