Food Safari's migas

A traditional Portuguese dish that makes use of yesterday's bread to create a stew-style meal.

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

"A hipster cafe would describe migas as finely sliced kale tossed with cornbread crumbs and pine nuts; if you’ve grown up in Portugal, migas is a way of using greens from your garden mixed with leftover bread and a few nuts - the stuff of subsistence. Whatever way you look at migas, it’s one of the incredibly delicious, warm, hearty vegetable dishes of the earth. The cornbread crumbs are slightly sweet and toast up to golden crispiness, the pine nuts, which are plentiful in Portugal are toasted and the kale is finely chopped and cooked to an al dente texture. Jose Silva grew up in Portugal and moved to Australia at the age of 12, training in a French kitchen and now sharing some treasured recipes including this one at his chic Bibo Wine Bar in Sydney’s Double Bay." Maeve O'Meara, Food Safari Earth 

Ingredients

• 100 g dried black eyed peas, soaked overnight
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 7 garlic cloves (1 clove bruised, the remaining finely chopped)
• ½ carrot, quartered lengthways
• ¼ onion, peeled
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 200 g kale or Chinese broccoli, leaves only, finely shaved
• 100 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 300 g corn bread, crust removed, finely chopped
• 50 g pine nuts

Soaking time: overnight

Instructions

Drain the soaked beans and place in a saucepan with the bay leaf, thyme, bruised garlic, carrot and onion. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the beans are tender. Season with salt, then strain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. 

Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the kale and cook for 5 minutes, then drain and set aside. 

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped garlic, breadcrumbs and pine nuts and cook, stirring regularly until golden brown but not too dark. Add the kale, then the cooked beans and 100 ml of the reserved cooking liquid. Simmer until all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and finish with a generous drizzle of olive oil.

Photography by Sharyn Cairns. Styling by Lee Blaylock. Food preparation by Emma Warren. Creative concept by Belinda So.

Brand-new series Food Safari Earth airs Thursdays at 8pm on SBS then on SBS On Demand. For recipes and more visit the program site right here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

"A hipster cafe would describe migas as finely sliced kale tossed with cornbread crumbs and pine nuts; if you’ve grown up in Portugal, migas is a way of using greens from your garden mixed with leftover bread and a few nuts - the stuff of subsistence. Whatever way you look at migas, it’s one of the incredibly delicious, warm, hearty vegetable dishes of the earth. The cornbread crumbs are slightly sweet and toast up to golden crispiness, the pine nuts, which are plentiful in Portugal are toasted and the kale is finely chopped and cooked to an al dente texture. Jose Silva grew up in Portugal and moved to Australia at the age of 12, training in a French kitchen and now sharing some treasured recipes including this one at his chic Bibo Wine Bar in Sydney’s Double Bay." Maeve O'Meara, Food Safari Earth