Bacon & Bean Soup

Right, I know I’m overdosing on soups at the moment. Must be the sudden change in the weather. This is tasty stuff. You could add any vegetables you like to this; some pasta would be nice too.

Ingredients

• 8 rashers smoked streaky bacon
• 2 leeks, halved and sliced
• 2 sticks of celery, chopped
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 400g can mixed beans
• fresh flat-leaf parsley
• parmesan cheese, grated

Method

1. Dry-fry the streaky bacon in a non-stick pan, no need to add oil, until it’s golden.
2. Add the leek and celery and fry on a moderate heat until almost tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the stock, beans, tomato purée, season well, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Before serving, season with freshly ground black pepper then mix in some chopped parsley and some grated parmesan cheese.

Serves 3-4.

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Sausage & Bean Hotpot

This is serious comfort food. Passata works best here, but 2 cans of tomatoes and some tomato purée would work just as well. You can also substitute the harissa with 1/2 tsp chilli flakes or a fresh red chilli, finely chopped. You can also use whatever beans you like, as long as they’re robust.

Ingredients

• 8-10 good quality butchers sausages
• 1 medium courgette, diced
• 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 400g cans flageolet beans
• 1 400g can butter beans
• 800g jar tomato passata
• 2 tbsp grain mustard
• 1 tsp English mustard powder
• ½ tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• dash of worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp harissa (or 1 tsp chilli flakes)
• 4 tomatoes, halved
• flat-leaf parsley

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 230°C.
2. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a fry pan. Gently fry the sausages until golden, but not too dark.
3. In the residual oil, fry the courgette, celery onion and garlic. You need to get plenty of colour on the vegetables.
4. Rinse and drain the beans and add to a large casserole. Add the fried vegetables, sausages and the rest of the ingredients, apart from the parsley. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5. Mix gently and tuck the sausages into the casserole. I like to cut the sausages in half before adding, especially if they’re large.
6. Cook in the oven for 35 minutes until the top is browned. Stir through a handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley and serve with some crusty bread for mopping up sauce.

Serves 4.

Mediterranean Bean & Vegetable Stew

This is the result of some all too rare experimentation in the kitchen by myself. Not sure about the name yet, it’s a little long-winded. I’ll think of something more snappy later. 🙂

Anyway, this is similar to a Provencale bean stew. It started off as a Piperonata/Ratatouille and some beans and pesto got chucked in. Very pleased with the result. Great accompaniment to steak or grilled chicken.

Ingredients

• 2 medium courgettes
• 3 peppers (a mix of colours would be nice)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 cloves, crushed
• 1 carton passata (about 500g)
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 can butter beans or borlotti beans
• 1 tbsp pesto (from a jar is fine)

Method

1. Fry the onions and garlic in some olive oil until lightly browned.
2. Add the roughly chopped vegetables (you want them to retain some bite) and fry hard to get plenty of colour on them.
3. Add the carton of passata, a large pinch of oregano, the butter beans and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the vegetables are tender.
5. Grind some more black pepper and stir the pesto through. That’s it.

Serves 2.