French Vegetable-Meat Pot with Ham Hock

Ingredients

• 250 g dried thick beans
• 2 onions
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 1 stalk leeks
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery sticks
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 600 ml Vegetable Broth
• 2 small ham hocks
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
• 1 Tbsp freshly chopped thyme
• 50 g black olives (pitted)
• pepper (ground)
• 2 slices white bread
• thyme (for garnish)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Soak the beans overnight in water.

2. 2.

   Peel and dice the onions and garlic. Clean, peel if necessary, wash, and cube the leeks, carrots, and celery. Sauté the onions with the garlic, leeks, carrots, and celery in a large oven-safe pot with 2 tbsp hot oil. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Wash the ham hocks, add them, cover, and simmer gently for about 45 minutes.

3. 3.

   Preheat the oven to 160°C fan.

4. 4.

   Remove the meat from the bones, cube it, and return it to the pot with the vegetables. Wash the tomatoes, cut off the stem ends, and dice them. Add the drained beans, parsley, and thyme to the pot. Cover and braise in the oven for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Dice the bread, scatter the olives over the stew, drizzle with the remaining oil, and bake uncovered at 220°C for an additional 15 minutes. Divide into bowls and serve garnished with thyme.