Bean and root vegetable casserole recipe

This bean and root vegetable casserole is the perfect recipe to bring the family together. 

It’s cheap and easy to prepare but most importantly a warming and filling dish that can go a long way. Beans are one of the best ingredients to explore when you're on a budget - they're cheap, filling a tasty. This is one of our best value cheap family meals recipes. Make it go even further by tossing in any extra vegetables you have taking up space in the fridge. This recipe serve four and only takes an hour to make from start to finish.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 white onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 red pepper
• 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 800g tinned beans
• 2 slices of toasted brown bread
• 2 tbsp of finely grated Parmesan
• 1 tbsp of chopped basil

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C/390°F/Fan 180°C/Gas Mark 5
2. Finely chop the garlic, onion, carrot and celery and heat in an ovenproof dish on the hob with the olive oil.
3. Sweat the vegetables till the onion becomes a bit translucent.
4. While the vegetables sweat, chop the red pepper into nice large chunks.
5. Once the vegetables have sweated down, add your red pepper and continue to cook for a couple of minutes before adding your tinned tomatoes.
6. Drain and rinse your beans and add to the dish, quickly cover the dish and then place in the oven for 25 minutes.
7. While your dish is bubbling away in the oven, toast your bread and allow to cool.
8. Place your cooled toast in a food processer and add the grated Parmesan. Blitz the mixture to a fine breadcrumb.
9. After the 25 minutes of oven time is over, take the dish out and spread the bread crumbs over the top of the casserole and return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are a golden brown.

Top tip for making bean and root vegetable casserole

Serve the casserole with a lovely buttery mash to make the most of the rich, tomato gravy of the casserole.