Tuscan bacon, bean soup…

Soup:

  • 50ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 300g smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 2 red onions, roughly chopped
  • 2 carrots, roughly chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
  • 1 large leek, roughly chopped
  • 2 large waxy potatoes, roughly chopped
  • 6 vine tomatoes, roughly chopped 
  • Small bunch fresh rosemary and thyme
  • 130g small orecchiette pasta
  • 2 litres pints good quality beef stock
  • 400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 16 small florets purple sprouting broccoli
  • 100g baby leaf spinach
  • Salt, freshly ground black pepper

Wild garlic pesto:

  • 15g fresh basil, roughly chopped
  • 15g wild garlic, roughly chopped
  • 50g pine nuts
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 15g Parmesan, finely grated
  • ½ lemon zest only, finely grated
  • 1 tsp lemon juice, to taste
  • Salt, freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

  • Small handful fresh basil, roughly chopped
  • Small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  • Small handful fresh chives, snipped
  • 100g Parmesan, finely grated
  • Olive oil to drizzle
  • 1 loaf crusty bread, to serve
———————————-
  1. Heat oil in saucepan over high heat

  2. Add bacon, season and fry for 5 minutes until caramelising

  3. De-glaze pan with sherry vinegar

  4. Add red onions, carrots, garlic, celery, leek

  5. Cook for 10 minutes until softened

  6. Stir in potatoes, tomatoes with vines

  7. Add rosemary, thyme bundle

  8. Squash tomatoes. Bring pan to simmer

  9. Heat beef stock over high heat

  10. Add pasta to vegetables

  11. Pour soup into pressure cooker

  12. Remove rosemary, thyme bundle, tomato vines

  13. Stir in cannellini beans, broccoli, spinach for 5 minutes

  14. For pesto, grind basil, wild garlic in a mortar with a pestle

  15. Add pine nuts, lemon zest, grind

  16. Add olive oil to make a paste, grind in Parmesan

  17. Add a squeeze of lemon, season to taste

  18. To serve, pour into soup bowls

  19. Sprinkle over fresh herbs, parmesan, wild garlic pesto, olive oil

  20. Serve with crusty bread

A healthy winter warmer! Cooking…

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