Italian Vegetable Ragout

This is a stew that takes the Italian peasant approach seriously, building deep vegetable flavor from a parade of garden ingredients without a drop of stock or cream. Blanching the potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower first jumpstarts their cooking and lets the Swiss chard wilt without going army green.

Reserving ½ cup of that vegetable cooking water is the real secret. It carries the dissolved minerals and starch that make the finished sauce silky and full-bodied. Marjoram (a softer, sweeter cousin to oregano) is the herb that ties everything together, and a can of chickpeas added at the end turns this into a satisfying meatless main.

Chef Tips

• Cut the vegetables into similar sizes so they cook at similar rates. Big potato chunks paired with thinly sliced carrots will leave you with mush in one and crunch in the other.
• Save the chard stems if you have time. Chop them and add with the celery and onions for an extra textural element and to avoid waste.
• Don’t skip reserving the cooking water. Plain water won’t give the same body to the sauce. If you forget, swap in a little vegetable broth.
• Add the chickpeas only at the very end. They’ve already been cooked, and overcooking turns them mushy and breaks down the skins.

Variations

• Stir in a 2-inch piece of parmesan rind during the simmer for an extra layer of umami depth (remove before serving).
• Add a pinch of red pepper flakes with the marjoram for a bit of heat.
• Swap chickpeas for cooked cannellini beans or butter beans for a creamier-textured legume.