Chorizo and Borlotti Bean Soup

1 brown onion (finely chopped)

1 chorizo sausage cut into small pieces

2 cloves of garlic (chopped fine)

2 sticks of celery, diced

300g borlotti beans, podded

• Can also use 150g dried Borlotti beans – these will need to be pre-soaked overnight, or use the quick-soak method: place dried beans in pot, cover with water around 3 inches above the line of the beans, bring water to just before boiling (bubbles forming at edge), then remove from heat, cover with lid and let beans sit for 1 hour. Drain and rinse thoroughly, ready for use in the soup
• Can also use tinned Borlotti beans. These should be drained and rinsed, and added later in the recipe than fresh or dried

2 large potatoes, cut into cubes 

1 bay leaf

1 litre  chicken stock

1 parmesan rind (rind left over from a block of parmesan)

½  bunch of Black Cabbage, chopped

1 can of cannellini beans drained and puree’d

Method

• In a soup pot, heat around 100mls of olive oil over a medium heat. 
• Add onion and sauté until they’re translucent. Add the garlic, and sauté for a further minute.  
• Then add chorizo and celery and sauté, until chorizo has coloured, and spices have rendered into the pot.  
• Add chicken stock, bay leaf, parmesan rind, potatoes, borlotti beans (if using fresh or soaked-dried), season and bring to the boil. (If the stock doesn’t cover the vegetables, add water.) 
• Simmer for 1½ hours. Add pureed cannellini beans and black cabbage (and Borlotti beans, if using tinned). Bring the soup back to the boil and simmer for a further 20 minutes. 
• Serve with shaved parmesan and crusty bread.