I had this dish for the first time when I went to visit friends and my friend got into a flap because I don’t eat meat. So she ran across to her Nigerian neighbour to ask for help! I have adapted the recipe to suit my family. It’s very easy and has a lovely chilli kick so goes well with plain rice. I am in Crete at the moment and have been able to get all the ingredients and put this together very quickly. You can use fresh, tinned or frozen spinach for this recipe whatever you have at hand.

Ingredients
3-4 x tsp olive oil – or oil of your choice without a strong flavour
500g of frozen chopped spinach – thawed
1 x red onion chopped very finely
1 x red bell pepper chopped finely
2 x fat cloves of garlic chopped finely
1 x red chilli pepper chopped very finely (seeds removed) – only put half in if you don’t like it too hot
1 x tsp of chilli powder if needed
1 x large potato – chopped into very small cubes
4/5 large tomatoes or 1 x 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 -2 tbsp tomato puree
squirt of ketchup
salt and pepper to taste

1 Method
In a heavy-bottomed pan add the olive oil and bring to a medium temperature. Add in the chopped onion, bell pepper, chopped garlic and chilli pepper and stir gently until everything has become translucent but not too soft.
Now add in the cubes of potato, the tinned or fresh tomatoes and let simmer gently with the lid on until the potatoes are just getting soft – about 5 minutes. (you want the potatoes to still have bite at the end of the cooking process).
Now add in the tomato puree, chilli powder if needed (test and see how hot it is) ketchup and salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for a few more minutes.
Now add in your thawed spinach, don’t worry about draining too much as you want the mixture to be quite loose. Allow all the flavours to come together and adjust seasonings as preferred.
Throughout the gentle simmering process add a splash of water if the mixture becomes too thick.
Now you are ready to serve with fluffy rice and a salad. This stew tastes even better the next day!