Beef Stew with Zucchini, Chickpeas, and Garlic

While I grew up eating beef stew enriched with root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, I have enjoyed experimenting with stews that incorporate other types of veggies over the years. This stew, adapted from a recipe by Faye Levy in the series “The Basics” in the April 1986 issue of Bon Appétit, allows summer squash to have a starring role.

Using a Mediterranean approach to flavorings and ingredients, Levy’s stew incorporates tomatoes, zucchini, chickpeas, rosemary, and a generous amount of garlic.

While Levy’s recipe called for fresh tomatoes, our produce aisle doesn’t yet have the stars of summer, so I opted for canned tomatoes. They work well as the base for the stewing liquid.  

Levy also suggested cooking the chickpeas from dried beans. But like many busy cooks, I found that draining a can of chickpeas and adding it to the dish was efficient—and tasted great. I also increased the amount of zucchini in the stew from 1 pound to 1 1/2 pounds. I found this proportion to be very satisfying and kept the stew light-tasting.

While many stew recipes call for dredging the meat in flour before browning it, Levy directs the cook to add the flour after the meat is browned. 

Baking the beef cubes with this flour coating produces a nutty, roux-like base for the liquids in the dish to work with when they are added.

While the total cooking time is a couple of hours for the stew, there is very little work beyond browning the meat. The oven takes on the task of slowly cooking the beef until it is tender and the sauce that surrounds it is silky. The tomatoes, rosemary, garlic, and broth meld into a flavor combination that compliments the beef beautifully.

You can prepare the stew up to this point and refrigerate or freeze it, adding the zucchini and chickpeas right before serving. The zucchini adds a light crunch married with velvety texture to the dish. Studded with chickpeas and summer squash, the stew is as appealing in its looks as it is in taste. 

And it’s a one-pot meal, which makes my dishwashing partner very happy. We felt this stew combined comfort food with springtime flavors. We will be making it again and again.

Beef Stew with Zucchini, Chickpeas, and Garlic

Dawn Dobie

Mediterranean-flavored stew rich with beef and vegetables

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast trimmed of fat, patted dry and cut into 1-1 ½ inch pieces
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1 28-ounce can or 2 14-ounce cans chopped tomatoes, with juice
• 8 cloves fresh garlic minced (about 3-4 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled)
• 1 serrano or jalapeño chile membranes removed, seeded, and minced
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1-2 cups beef or vegetable broth low-sodium preferred
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained, rinsed, and drained again
• 1 ½ pounds zucchini (about 3 medium), cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Heat 1 ½ tablespoons of the vegetable oil in oven-proof cooking pot (Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add one third to one half of the beef pieces to the Dutch oven, being careful not to overcrowd them. Cook the beef pieces, turning them after a few minutes, until they are browned on all sides. Using a slotted spoon, remove the browned beef pieces to a large bowl.
• Add another 1 ½ tablespoons of oil to the pot and repeat with the remaining beef pieces. Remove those to the bowl when they have browned. (If you have only been able to cook one third of the beef at a time, repeat with remaining meat.)
• After removing beef pieces, add the diced onion to the Dutch oven and cook over medium heat, stirring often until wilted and light golden brown in color.
• Using the slotted spoon, return the beef to the pot (leaving any accumulated juices in the bottom of the bowl). Sprinkle the beef pieces with the flour and stir well. Place in oven for 6 minutes, stirring halfway through.
• Remove pot from oven and lower oven heat to 350 degrees.
• Add beef drippings from bowl, tomatoes, garlic, chile pepper, rosemary, salt, and pepper to the beef. Stir well, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the bottom or sides of the Dutch oven. Add enough broth to barely cover the beef. Stir well again.
• Cover pot and return to oven to bake for one hour.
• Remove pot from oven and stir. If liquid levels seem low, add more broth. Stir in tomato paste. Cover pot and return to oven for additional 45 minutes to an hour.
• Remove from oven and uncover. Add garbanzo beans and cook 5 minutes on top of stove over medium-high heat, stirring gently.
• Add zucchini and cook additional 5 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper.
• Garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Notes

The stew can be cooled and refrigerated or frozen after it comes out of the oven. Rewarm when ready to serve, and add chickpeas and zucchini at that time.

Adapted from Faye Levy in Bon Appétit (April 1986)