Yucca stew - Grow Your Own 1st anniversary

I say manioc (cassava), you say yucca. Many people have tried yucca without even knowing it, like when you use tapioca flour... does this ring a bell?

This entry celebrates Grow Your Own's first anniversary! Congratulations Andrea! Thank you for planting the seed of friendship with your event!

This is a simple recipe for chilly nights. I had some yucca in the freezer from the family farm and I added harissa, the Tunisian spice blend, to the stew to spice it up.

Harissa has the power to turn an ordinary dish into a gourmet dish!

Yucca stew

• Peel and strip the yucca root before cooking (remove the long stringy fibers in the middle)
• Cut into chunks and cook it in water until soft (it can take from 20 minutes to over one hour, use a pressure cooker if you have one)
  

3 pounds (1.5 kg) cooked yucca, smashed
10 to 12 cups water or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon salt (omit the salt if using stock)
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 oz bacon, cooked, lightly browned
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon harissa (or any pepper)
2 cups watercress, chopped (or kale)

1) Sauté onion and garlic in oil and olive oil. Add smashed yucca, water (or stock), salt and harissa. Bring to a boil, then simmer until stew is thickened. Using an immersion hand blender (or a blender), puree stew until smooth.

2) Towards the end, add the watercress and the cooked bacon, turn off heat and cover for a few minutes before serving. Serve warm.

• This recipe can be adapted for the slow cooker.
  

Yucca plantation

You can check all the entries for the 1st anniversary here.