Confit garlic beans topped a with sweet pepper ragout

Cooking the French confit way really brings out the sweet flavour of the garlic in this dish and makes it melt-in-the-mouth delicious. This really is a super-healthy meal. The butter beans are a good source of iron, and the sweet red peppers have the vitamin C you need for maximum iron absorption. Top that with the nutrient dense garlic which is rich in antioxidants too. This really is plant-rich healthy eating at its best!

Serves 2

 SWEET PEPPER RAGOUT

2 Romano peppers

Olive oil

Pinch of salt

Pinch of sugar

50 ml water

CONFIT GARLIC BEANS

5 large garlic cloves

Olive oil

80g jar sun-dried tomatoes

1 tin butter beans

1 tablespoon plant-based yoghurt

10g parsley

10g dill

Juice of ½ lemon

Salt and pepper

Start with the confit garlic beans

• Preheat your oven to 160°C

• Place the peeled garlic in tinfoil and drizzle with oil. Create a sealed parcel with the tinfoil. Place on a baking tray and bake slowly for 1 hour.

Next make the sweet pepper ragout

• While your garlic is cooking, peel your peppers and cut into 2cm cubes.

• Add your olive oil to a pan, add your peppers and fry over a medium heat for about 15 minutes.

• Halfway through the cooking add a generous pinch of salt and sugar. This will help caramelise and sweeten the peppers.

• When the peppers are tender and beginning to break down, add the water.

• Cook for a few minutes to thicken the sauce. Then set aside.

When the garlic is cooked…

• Your kitchen will smell amazing, and the garlic will be very soft and paste-like. If it needs to cook a little longer, simply seal the tinfoil parcel again and pop back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so. The secret to the dish is getting the garlic right so don’t rush this step.

• To a large bowl add the rinsed and drained tin of beans and finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

• Add the yoghurt, herbs, lemon juice and confit garlic. Season generously and mix everything together well.

You’re ready to serve

• Both the ragout and beans are delicious served at room temperature.

• Spoon the beans into two bowls, top with the sweet peppers and drizzle over the delicious red pepper oil from the pan over the beans.

• You can add a dollop of hummus and a side salad for a nutritious lunch.

• Or for posh ‘beans on toast’ spoon onto freshly toasted sourdough bread.

• So yummy and deliciously moreish!

Ready for confit roasting for the garlic beans