Winter Vegetable Pottage

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: British

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 50

Total Time: 1 20

Servings:

Calories: 339kcal

Author: Jacq

This easy Winter Vegetable Pottage is a hearty, traditional British thick stew that’s packed with root vegetables, beans, and warming herbs. The turmeric breadcrumbs provide a delicious warmth that runs throughout the pottage. Inspired by historical pottage recipes, it’s a nourishing bowl of old-fashioned comfort food perfect for budget-friendly family dinners, batch cooking, or cosy suppers.

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US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Large cooking pot
Mixing spoon or ladle
Food processor or similar for preparing breadcrumbs
Carving knife for slicing cooked whole cabbage

Ingredients

2 cans haricot beans [2 x 14oz cans, drained, can replace with canned butter beans or frozen broad beans]
240 grams carrots [2-3 medium, thin sliced]
240 grams leeks [1-2 leeks, remove outer leaves and slice into 1 inch pieces]
500 grams potatoes [3-4 medium sized, cut into ¼ inch pieces or bite-sized chunks]
400 grams swede (also called turnip in Scotland or rutabaga in US) [1 small, sliced into ¼ inch pieces or bite-sized chunks, or replace with 3 small turnips which the original recipe calls for]
3 sticks celery [trimmed, sliced into 1 inch chunks]
260 grams onion [1 large, thin sliced]
1 large clove garlic [use as much garlic as you like]
2 bay leaves
1 bunch fresh thyme [or 2-3 teaspoons of dried thyme]
600 grams firm green or white cabbage [1 small-medium, remove outer leaves, trim tough stalk but keep the cabbage whole]
1.5 litres water
2 slices white bread [prepared into fine breadcrumbs]
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ pint double cream [I use Alpro Soya single cream]

Garnish

4 tablespoons parsley [fine chopped, can replace with a different herb such as chopped chives]

Instructions

Prepare the pottage:

Add the water, bay leaves, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme to a large pot and bring to the boil while you prepare the vegetables.
1 large clove garlic, 2 bay leaves, 1 bunch fresh thyme, 1.5 litres water, 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
Add the whole cabbage to the middle of the pot and place the rest of the vegetables around it: potatoes, carrots, leeks, swede, onions and celery.
240 grams carrots, 240 grams leeks, 500 grams potatoes, 400 grams swede (also called turnip in Scotland or rutabaga in US), 260 grams onion, 600 grams firm green or white cabbage, 3 sticks celery
Bring to the boil and simmer over a medium heat for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes flip the cabbage over so that the top side has a chance to cook through.
After 40 minutes add the canned haricot beans and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.
2 cans haricot beans
Check to see if your cabbage has cooked through and if not continue cooking until the cabbage can be easily sliced.

Prepare the breadcrumbs

While the pottage cooks prepare the breadcrumbs. Add 2 slices of white bread to a food processor and process until its fine breadcrumbs.
2 slices white bread
Place the breadcrumbs into a small bowl and mix in the tumeric powder. Set aside until the pottage has finished cooking.
1 teaspoon turmeric powder

Serve the pottage

Carefully remove the cabbage from the pot and place onto a chopping board or other suitable kitchen surface.
Slice the cabbage into wedges.
Add a good pile of turmeric breadcrumbs to each serving bowl and drizzle them with cream. Although if preferred you can omit the cream or drizzle this on top of the pottage once placed into serving bowls.
¼ pint double cream
Place some cabbage wedges onto the breadcrumbs and ladle around the vegetables and stock.
Optional: If liked you can add a pat of margarine or butter on top of the cabbage as this was included within the original historical recipe. I didn't think it needed it but this is personal preference.
Finish with a garnish of parsley, and extra salt & pepper if you think it needs it.
4 tablespoons parsley
Place any unused cabbage back into any leftover pottage. Any leftover breadcrumbs and pottage is very tasty for next days lunch.

Notes

Nutritional data is not exact and is an estimate as ingredients vary.
I have made a few tweaks to Elizabeth Ayrton's recipe which are detailed below. Ayrton states that the recipe can be located in various early cookbooks and manuscripts with some variations but the recipe for Pottage of Winter vegetables remains mostly the same in each source.
The original recipe calls for 2-2½ Ib gammon or collar joint but as we are a plant-based cooking blog we omitted this ingredient. The gammon was cooked separately as Elizabeth Ayrton states that it would have made the soup too greasy, it was also served along with the pottage.
The cabbage is cooked whole and removed at the end of cooking and carved into slices which makes a very nice plant-based gammon alternative. The original recipe added a slice of butter to the top of the whole cabbage once removed from the pottage and placed onto a serving dish, and finished it with a sprinkle of parsley. Dairy-free butter or margarine will also do fine for this if you want to serve the cabbage this way.
If you would like to obtain a meaty flavour, minus any animal ingredients, for your pottage you can try adding one or two extra ingredients such as a teaspoon of vegetable extract or marmite and/or a tablespoon of soy sauce, and/or use a beef flavoured vegan stock or broth such as plant-based beef or chicken OXO cubes. As the recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of salt do reduce this amount if you add aditional flavours especially soy sauce and stock.
If preferred omit the called for amounts of salt & pepper, and replace with vegetable stock. Add salt & pepper to taste.
The original recipe calls for 240g or 8 oz dried haricot beans or butter beans that have been soaked overnight. The soaked beans are drained and added to the pottage at the beginning of cooking. If you wish to do this increase the water amount by adding an additional ½ litre and add more as the pottage cooks if you think it requires it. You will also have to increase the cooking time as 50 minutes may not be enough to cook the dried beans. I used canned haricot beans for convenience.
Wholemeal or wholewheat breadcrumbs can be used instead of white breadcrumbs.
Gluten-free pottage: Use gluten-free breadcrumbs.
We like to serve this pottage with Scottish oatcakes or crusty bread. Elizabeth Ayrton recommends jacket/baked potatoes or crusty bread and to enjoy with a 'rough red wine or dry cider'!

Nutrition