Summer Veggie Stew

I almost hate calling this a stew because it doesn’t really do it justice. There’s no liquid added, so any sauce that develops comes out of the veggies, melding together and caramelizing in the pan to make a wonderfully hardy “stew”.

Its great on pasta, but I think it’s even better scooped up with soft flatbreads like a pita or naan.

For this batch I used some incredibly tender young summer squash along with sweet grape tomatoes, spring onions and fresh peas, but you could really use just about any mix of just-picked farmers market produce. For the seasoning I went with a home made Herbes de Provence mixture of fresh rosemary, lavender, sage and bay leaves, but it’s also great with sumac, lemon rind, and harissa.

While I included measurements below, they’re just guidelines. The idea here is to get the fewest pans, plates and utensils dirty, so do what feels right, taste it then adjust the seasonings until you’re happy.

2 Tbs high quality olive oil
2-3 spring onion bulbs sliced into rings
2 squash (I used zucchini and yellow squash) cut into 1/3″ disks
1 pt grape tomatoes cut in half
1 tsp fresh rosemary minced
1/2 tsp fresh sage minced
1/4 tsp dried lavender
1 bay leaf
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 C fresh peas

Put the oil in a pan and add the onions. Saute until soft and just starting to brown.

Add all the ingredients except the peas. Cook until the tomatoes are soft and the squash is soft and juicy about 20 minutes.

Add the peas in about 5 minutes before serving. Check one last time for salt adding more if needed and serve over pasta or with bread.

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