Ingredients

Method

• 310 g samp
• 180 g dried speckled beans
• 1½ litres chicken or vegetable stock
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 2 sticks celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T dried mixed herbs
• 1 T paprika
• 1 x 300 g punnet Woolworths exotic mushrooms, sliced
• 2 T Bovril
• parsley, a few sprigs, for serving

Method

Ingredients

1. Place the samp and beans in a saucepan, top with the stock, add 2 t salt and bring to the boil. Skim the foam off the surface at intervals. The samp and beans should be cooked through but still retain their shape in 2½–3 hours.

2. Heat a pan and add half the vegetable oil. Sauté the carrot, onion, celery and garlic, then add the mixed herbs and paprika. Fry for a further 5 minutes, or until slightly caramelised. Stir through and tip the vegetables into the samp. The samp should be thick and rich by now. Stir well.

3. Heat a pan and add the remaining oil. Fry the mushrooms over a high heat until golden brown, then spoon in the Bovril and stir briefly before removing from the heat. Stir half the mushrooms into the samp. To serve, spoon the hot samp into a serving bowl, gently swirling in the remaining mushrooms and a few sprigs of parsley. Serve warm.

Cook's note: I was doing my daily scroll on Instagram when I spotted Zola Nene’s mushroom samp. It was a eureka moment! There’s usually a bit of a fight to get samp onto the table because many people don’t deem it celebration-worthy. My version is tasty with an umami-ish dimension. Thanks for the inspo, sis!

Find more South African recipes here. 

Photograph: Toby Murphy