Vegetarian locro
Local name : Locro vegetariano
A long-simmered Argentine winter stew of white maize, beans and squash, finished with a fiery paprika oil.
Photo : Horacio Cambeiro · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 150 min
- Total
- 175 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
Method
- Drain the maize and beans and put them in a large pot with the water, onion, leek and garlic. Bring to the boil, then drop to a bare simmer.
- Skim the surface, add the cumin and paprika, and cook covered for 90 minutes, stirring now and then so the maize does not catch.
- Add the sweet potato and half the squash, season with salt, and continue uncovered for 40 minutes.
- Add the remaining squash and cook 20 minutes more: the first cubes collapse and thicken the stew while the second batch stays whole.
- The locro is ready when the spoon almost stands up in it; if not, reduce uncovered for a few minutes longer.
- For the paprika oil, warm the olive oil gently with the chilli flakes and spring onions for 2 minutes, pulling it off the heat as soon as it sizzles.
- Ladle the locro into deep bowls and spoon the hot red oil over each serving.
In Argentina locro is cooked for national holidays and shared straight from the pot. The white maize really does need a full overnight soak, or no reasonable amount of simmering will soften it.
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