Winter Vegetables Stew

Túbal
Chef: Nicolás Ramírez
Country: Spain
City: 31300 Tafalla. (Navarra).
Address: Plaza de Navarra, 4.
(+34)948700852.

This restaurant represents the evolution of popular cuisine in Navarra. A statement that is at its height regarding the elements the local population is the proudest of: vegetables. The menu offers infinite recipes with diversified treatments of every main ingredient. Boiled, fried, sautéed… and raw artichokes served with a wide variety of accompaniments from here and there. As well as winter thistle. This is a very lucid vision of the winter vegetable stew that maintains all the natural flavours, textures and colours of the ingredients thanks to the short cooking times. The vegetables are reinforced by the strong taste of an intelligent velouté sauce and by their cooking broths, which make the dish clearlier-defined.



The Recipe



 

INGREDIENTS

- Artichokes “Blancas de Tudela”
- Borage
- Thistle
- Green beans
- Extra virgin arbequina olive oil
- Garlic
- Acorn-fed Iberian ham

ARTICHOKES

Peel the artichokes and cook for 6 minutes into salted water. Remove from the heat when they are still a bit hard and let the cooking finish into the cooking water. Set aside for the artichoke broth.

The doneness of the vegetables must be constantly checked!

 

BORAGE AND GREEN BEANS

Clean and cook both vegetables separately into salted water with a bit of bicarbonate. Once perfectly done (after 3 and 2 minutes, respectively), remove and transfer to a bowl with water, salt and ice to cut the cooking and fix the colour. Set the cooking water of the borage aside.

THISTLE

Clean the thistle, choose the most tender and youngest ribs and put into water as soon as they are being cleaned. Cook in a pressure cooker into abundant salted water for 3-5 minutes (according to the tenderness of the selected ribs). Remove and leave aside.

ASSEMBLY

Heat four garlic slices into a pan with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Once slightly browned, add the ham and remove them immediately from the oil. Add a pinch of flour and a drop of artichoke broth to give a pleasant hint of flavour as well as some borage broth in order to give the stew a green touch. Bind and set the sauce aside for the finish.

Place the vegetables on a tray, steam-heat for 2 minutes, add the sauce and a drop of extra virgin olive oil, a slice of fried garlic and some slices of Iberian ham.