Put into a bowl and pour over boiling water and let them sit about 20 minutes:
a handful of dried mushrooms
a large handful of sun-dried tomatoes
Saute in olive oil until quite soft:
1 sweet onion or 2 shallots, chopped
Add:
the equivalent of 1 can cooked beans (lentils or kidney beans preferably)
1/2 cup red wine (I use the only delicious nonalcoholic I've ever found -- Billabong Red from Australia0
the above dried mushrooms and tomatoes and most of their liquid (not any grit though of course) (you might need to cut them up with scissors)
Simmer for about 15 minutes then add and cook just a few minutes; if it's soupy take off the lid for it to reduce:
2 tablespoons capers
Add just a little ground pepper if you'd like, and also if you'd like swirl in some more olive oil.
(Note I've tried, in turn, fresh mushrooms and fresh tomatoes, but they just aren't half as tasty in this.)
(extremely adapted from a fish and bean recipe in BBC Good Food magazine for February 2005)
(from previous incarnation of this site, when we lived overseas)