Who doesn't love a good vegetable stew? Stew is an excellent way to end a cold day, providing your family with something hearty and warm. This particular stew recipe is bursting at the seams with flavor, ensuring every bite is as good as the last.
With ingredients like red bell pepper, garlic, oregano, zucchini, and cheese, you can see why this recipe tastes as good as it does. If you want to make this recipe vegan, simply leave out the cheese! Stews can be filling without meat in them. Plus, a vegetable stew is packed to the brim with nutrition.
It's a must to serve this stew with some bread. Every bowl of stew should come paired with a slice of bread, in our opinion. If you have the time, try making your own homemade bread to really make this meal special. Otherwise, pick up a nice loaf from the store. Make sure to serve it warm and buttered!
Keep this stew recipe on hand for whenever you need something that feels homey and cozy. This will be one of those dinners your kids look back on when they're grown and remember fondly. They may even want the recipe themselves! We hope you enjoy this stew recipe as much as we do.
Italian Vegetable Stew
Ingredients:
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
1 eggplant (about 1 pound), cut into 1-inch chunks
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained, tomatoes chopped medium, and juice reserved
1 onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
3 cups vegetable broth, plus extra as needed
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2 medium), peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
2 zucchini (about 1 pound), quartered lengthwise and sliced 1 inch thick
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Directions:
1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Brown eggplant lightly on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.
2. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, and oregano and cook until dry and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in 1 cup broth, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.
3. Stir reserved tomato juice, remaining 2 cups broth, and potatoes into slow cooker. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, 4 to 6 hours on low.
4. Stir in zucchini, cover, and cook on high until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. (Adjust stew consistency with additional hot broth as needed.) Stir in basil, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with Parmesan and additional olive oil.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©A. Zhuravleva/Shutterstock.com.