Another easy meal inspired by Davina McCall’s recipe. It reminds me a lot our Polish old school “fasolka po bretońsku”, made with butter beans, smoked sausage, root veggies and lots of tomato sauce. It definitely has this vibe but more on the spicy, smoky side. Even though my partner is not a fan of this recipe, I really enjoy Davina’s chorizo and bean soup, and I’ve made it several times already. It’s not exact the same, I’ve tweak it a bit to suit more to my spice drawer. I swapped harissa paste for some sweet paprika powder and chilli flakes. I also think that marjoram is a great addition to this mix because it helps digestion. It adds lots of flavour to a dish, simply add some at the end of cooking, because when cooked too long might get bitter. If you use fresh coriander, as Davina does – you will get more fresh and light aroma.

I also added green peas that weren’t originally in the recipe, but I think that’s one of this recipes you can mix and match whatever veg you like. Bell peppers, carrots, parsnips, turnip or swede or even sweet potato. As long as you pop in lots of smoky chorizo and any kind of beans you will get a great result. Butter beans, cannellini, barlotti, black eyed, haricot, flageolet – they all will work as well. You can use dried beans (but remember to soak them through the night and cook them first) or ready cooked canned beans. The second option is the quickest and the easiest.

This recipe is a perfect crock pot option if you only fry the sausage and onion first. You can then pop all the ingredients to a slow cooker and cook about 4-5 hours on low setting.

It’s a great Winter one pot meal – will keep you warm thanks to smoky chorizo and chilli flakes and satisfy your belly for hours. Perfect family weekend dinner or easy dish on a budget – you can cook a big batch and enjoy garnished with different spices every time. Coriander leaves for some fresh, citrus aroma, parsley for some woody and herbal vibe and marjoram for stronger sweet-spicy warming flavour.

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chorizo & bean winter soup

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INGREDIENTS:

• 225g chorizo
• about 500g of cooked beans (in this particular recipe I used 1 can of butter beans and 1 can of haricot beans)
• 3 bell peppers (green, yellow, orange and/or red)
• handful of green peas
• 1 large brown onion
• tomato passata (add to thickenss and taste)
• 2 garlic cloves
• salt and black coarse pepper to taste
• 1 tsp sweet paprika powder
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• for garnish – optionally: fresh coriander, fresh parsley or dried marjoram

DIRECTIONS

Cut chorizo in slices and fry for about 5-10 minutes. In the meantime chop one large onion and add to chorizo. Let it fry for 2-3 minutes.

Chop bell peppers in medium size pieces, finely chop 2 garlic cloves or use a garlic press.

Add garlic to chorizo and onion, next drained beans if you use beans from the can. Or cooked beans if you use dried ones (remember to soak them through the night and cook them first). Add bell peppers, green peas, sweet paprika, pinch of salt and black pepper. Next add tomato passata, start with about 400ml. Everything depends of the brand of passata you use. If you add too much it might be a bit too sour, so that’s the part when you need to use more of your own taste. I like mine to have stronger tomato flavour, so it doesn’t bother me if it’s more on the sour side. But you might like more gentle flavour. You can also add some boiling water to make it less thick and more soupy-like.

Simmer on a low heat until peppers will be tender and all flavours goes through. If you decide to add marjoram – sprinkle a good pinch couple minutes before end of cooking. Fresh coriander and parsley will be the best just before serving the soup.