Red 'pea' soup with dumplings

This is a hearty vegetarian soup not for the faint-hearted. It's a Jamaican recipe loaded with vegetables and beans cooked down with plenty of spices, and easy homemade dumplings added towards the end. Add more chilli if you like it hot!

• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  1:30 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

400 g (2 cups) dried red kidney beans

270 ml coconut cream

2 carrots, peeled, thickly sliced

350 g butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 3cm pieces

350 g potato, peeled, cut into 3cm pieces

240 g choko, peeled, cut into 3cm pieces

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 Scotch bonnet chilli (see Note)

300 g (2 cups) plain flour

1 green capsicum, chopped

1 spring onion, green part only, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 thyme sprig

6 allspice berries (see Note)

2 tsp all-purpose seasoning (see Note)

2½ cm-piece ginger, peeled, finely chopped

30 g butter

Soaking time overnight

Instructions

Rinse kidney beans under cold running water, then place in a large bowl and cover with 2 litres cold water and soak overnight.

Strain beans into a colander, rinse again and discard any damaged beans. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add beans to boiling water, return to the boil, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook for a further 10 minutes or until beans are starting to become tender.

Add coconut cream, carros, pumpkin, potato, choko, 80 ml water, garlic and chilli, cover and cook for a further 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make dumplings, place flour and 1 tsp salt in a bowl and gradually stir in 150 ml water until combined. Knead dough on a lightly floured work surface until smooth. Divide dough into 12, roll each piece into a ball, flatten slightly and shape into oblongs.

Stir capsicum, onions, thyme, allspice berries, seasoning, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, ginger and butter into soup. Add dumplings and cook for 15 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through. Divide soup and dumplings among bowls and serve.

Note

• Scotch bonnet chillies are from selected greengrocers; wear latex gloves when handling.

• Allspice berries are available from delis, selected greengrocers and spice shops.

• All-purpose seasoning is from supermarkets. Note, some brands include MSG. As seen in Feast magazine, Issue 7, pg120.Photography by Helen Cathcart.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.