Roast pepper & almond butter stew

A Spanish-inspired 20 minute, one-pan meal with chickpeas, spinach & smoked paprika.

This is the first of my 20 in 20 series (20 recipes, 20 minutes) and we’re starting with a bang. This easy chickpea stew is inspired by romesco sauce which is a Spanish roast red pepper and almonds sauce.

It uses jarred red peppers which are so convenient and have so much flavour. If you already have raw peppers in, you can roast your own. I highly recommend this step rather than adding them raw, as roasting gives them a much deeper and smoky flavour. Roast/air fryer until starting to blister and blacken (about 20-25 mins) leave to cool a little and then peel away and discard the charred outer skin.

Almond butter gives this a lovely nutty flavour and creaminess. I don’t know why I don’t use it more in cooking! Watch this space.

Enjoy as it is, with toasted bread if you like, or you could add some protein of choice I.e chicken, prawns, halloumi or even tofu.

You’ll need (serves 2):

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 200g roasted red peppers, sliced/chopped into chunks about 2cm

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes

• 1 heaped tsp smoked paprika

• 250g jarred chickpeas (or 1 tin)

• 40g almond butter (3 tbsp)

• 3 large handfuls spinach

• Juice of half a lemon

Optional, to garnish:

• Parsley

• Flaked almonds (I recommend toasting in a dry frying pan for the best flavour and crunch)

Heat a little oil in a large, deep frying pan or casserole dish. Add the garlic and fry for a minute or so before adding the roast peppers, chopped tomatoes, paprika and chickpeas along with their liquid/stock. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir and cook on a medium heat for 5-10 minutes.

Add the almond butter and stir until it’s fully combined. Tip: if your almond butter isn’t super smooth, before adding it, mix it with a few tbsp of water in a small bowl until smooth. This makes it easier to stir through and will avoid any lumps.

Add the spinach and wilt in. Add the lemon juice and taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Serve and top with the parsley and flaked almonds, if using. Dig in.