ITALIAN BEAN SOUP. Yes

THE BLURB:

This is such a good allotment use-up dish for beans and brasiccas. In this case I’ve used Greek Gigantese and Borlotti for beans and Cavolo Nero and Asturian Tree Cabbage as the greens but anything along the same lines is fine. If you have french beans to use up they can go in too.

THE INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 medium sized onion, diced
• 2 or 3 carrots, diced
• 3 or so rashers of good unsmoked bacon, diced
• A large hand full of any good flavored dried beans, soaked over night.
• Brassiccas, washed and sliced into ribbons. (Cabbage, Kale, Cavolo Nero, Kalettes even Brussels Sprouts wouldn’t be a no-no)
• Tomato passatta, or fresh tomatoes (if using fresh, just core them and chop them in half)
• 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano, or a sprig of fresh
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 pint of mild stock, chicken or vegetable
• Salt and Pepper
• Parmesan Cheese. If you have kept your hard cheese rinds, now is their moment!

THE METHOD:

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and throw in the Onion, Bacon and Carrot. Let this cook down until the bacon is a little crisp and the onion is soft.

Then in go the Beans, the Stock, the Passata (or fresh tomatoes), the Bay leaves, Oregano and the cheese rinds. Let this bubble away gently until the beans are just soft. Its hard to say how long this will be because it depends so much on how fresh they are but normally about an hour. You may need to add more water during this time.

Add in the cabbage/kale (and french beans if you’re using them) a good grind of pepper and salt to taste. Depending on how young and tender/old and tough your greens are let this carry on cooking until they are soft.

Serve into bowls and grate a good amount of Parmesan, or similar, over the top.

NOTES and LINKS:

Although this is a stew, its got a real summer or early autumn feel to it. Hot day, crusty bread and a huge green salad and its basically heaven.