Everyday dinner
Smoky bean pot with cornmeal dumplings
A warming pot of smoky beans, peppers and greens with tender, boiled cornmeal dumplings for a chilly autumn evening.
Free guide: thirty gluten-free dinners, with the shopping lists
A smoky, tomato-rich bean pot for Bonfire Night or any cold evening. Carrots, peppers and kale cook into the sauce, and each bowl gets four cornmeal dumplings, so the whole meal is accounted for.
The dumplings are gently boiled before joining the beans. Expect a firm, tender bite rather than a fluffy baked topping. You can make the bean base ahead and cook the dumplings fresh when you need them.
This recipe is in development and has not been kitchen-tested.
The recipe
Smoky bean pot with cornmeal dumplings
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Total*
- 70 min
- Makes
- 4 servings
*Estimated development timings. No standing time is required. Allow longer if the dumpling centres need further cooking; cooling and reheating a make-ahead batch are additional.
Ingredients
Tick things off as you go.
For the smoky bean pot
For the cornmeal dumplings
Shared seasoning
Equipment
- Use a wide, lidded saucepan of at least 4 litres for the bean pot.
- Use a second saucepan of at least 4 litres for boiling the dumplings, with two hob rings available at the same time.
- You will need a mixing bowl, kitchen scales, measuring jug, chopping board and knife.
- Have a slotted spoon, stirring spoon and clean food thermometer available.
Let’s make it.
- 01
Prepare the ingredients
Check packaged ingredients for gluten-free suitability and use clean equipment and work surfaces. Wash and cut the vegetables as listed, drain and rinse the beans, and measure the remaining ingredients. Keep the kale separate for later. The carrots should be evenly cut so they soften together.
- 02
Shape the dumplings
Combine the cornmeal, flour blend and 2 g salt. Work in 200 ml warm water, then add the remaining water a little at a time only if needed. The dough should hold together without crumbling or sticking heavily. Divide into 16 pieces and flatten to discs about 1 cm thick. Cover until needed.
- 03
Soften the vegetables
Heat the olive oil in the wide saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and peppers and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. The onion should look translucent and the peppers should have begun to soften, without blackened edges.
- 04
Build the smoky sauce
Stir in the garlic, tomato purée, smoked paprika and thyme. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until the purée darkens slightly and the garlic smells fragrant. Add the tomatoes, beans and prepared stock. Bring to a steady simmer, allowing about 5 minutes. Bubbles should break across the surface when you stir.
- 05
Simmer the beans
Partly cover and simmer gently for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, while you cook the dumplings on the second hob ring. Add the kale for the final 8 minutes. If the sauce becomes too thick, close the lid fully and lower the heat. The carrots should yield easily to a knife, the kale should be tender and the sauce should remain spoonable.
- 06
Boil the dumplings
While the bean pot comes to a simmer, bring the 2 litres of water to the boil in the second saucepan. Lower in the dumplings and gently loosen any touching the base. Simmer for 20–25 minutes. Cut one open: its centre should be evenly cooked, without a dry, floury core. Continue cooking if needed; floating alone is not a reliable check.
- 07
Bring the meal together
Lift the dumplings out with a slotted spoon and drain. Stir the lemon juice and black pepper into the beans, then taste and add up to the remaining 1 g salt if needed. Nestle the dumplings into the sauce and simmer gently for about 3 minutes, until everything is steaming hot throughout. A clean thermometer in a dumpling centre should read at least 75°C for 30 seconds. Divide the beans and vegetables between four bowls, with four dumplings in each.
Ingredient checks
Choose labelled gluten-free cornmeal and flour blend, and verify the stock, tomato purée, tinned tomatoes, beans, paprika, thyme and other packaged ingredients against their current labels. Confirm the flour blend contains xanthan gum and that all packaged products are vegan. For someone with coeliac disease, prevent gluten cross-contact through clean pans, utensils, colanders and surfaces, and avoid shared flour dust or contaminated open packets. The ingredient groups form one combined shopping list: oil is 20 ml in total, salt is 3 g in total with its allocations stated, and the 450 ml prepared stock includes its dilution water. No pantry deductions have been assumed; subtract only suitable supplies actually on hand. Vegetable weights are prepared weights. Stock quantity is the prepared yield, not an additional 450 ml of water to add on top.
Allergens: No ingredient necessarily supplies one of the 14 UK regulated allergens, but the final allergen declaration depends on the products selected.; Vegetable stock may contain celery, mustard, soya or cereals containing gluten; choose a gluten-free vegan product and declare any other allergens on its label.; Check the flour blend and every other packaged ingredient for celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya and sulphites.; Gluten-free does not mean suitable for every food allergy, and a gluten-free flour containing wheat starch still requires a wheat allergy check..
Make it work for you
Replace the pinto beans with the same drained weight of tinned borlotti beans in water.
Replace the kale with 150 g fresh spinach and stir it in for the final 3 minutes of simmering, until wilted and hot throughout.
If suitable vegetable stock is unavailable, use 450 ml water and adjust the seasoning within the listed salt allowance.
Use fine cornmeal and the specified type of flour blend for the dumplings; cornflour, coarse polenta and single flours are not equivalent replacements.
For another day
For make-ahead cooking, prepare the bean base and cook the dumplings fresh on the day of serving.
Divide the cooked bean base or complete meal into shallow containers, cool promptly and refrigerate within 1–2 hours at 0–5°C; use within 48 hours.
Freeze cooled portions promptly if they will not be eaten within 48 hours, following any ingredient packaging restrictions; the dumplings' texture after freezing has not been tested.
Defrost in the fridge until fully thawed and use within 24 hours.
Reheat only once, stirring the sauce and turning the dumplings gently until steaming hot throughout; check a dumpling centre reaches 75°C for 30 seconds.
The main method uses fresh vegetables and newly opened tinned beans, not previously cooked leftovers; do not restart the storage clock by adding older leftovers.
Exploding food
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The ingredients, seen a little differently. This image is an illustration of the main ingredients; use the written recipe for the full list and quantities.
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