Black Bean Soup

Paul Lynch
Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 tbs oil
  • 1 pack pancetta
  • 1 onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 chili
  • 2 tins black beans
  • chicken stock
  • garnish: coriander, cheese, sour cream, chili, chives, chopped spring onion, etc

Equipment

  • medium to large saucepan

Method

Put the saucepan over a medium heat and chop the onion. Add the oil and lightly brown the pancetta. Sweat the onion with a pinch of salt; take care not to brown. After about 5 minutes add the finely chopped garlic and chili; continue to cook for one more minute.

Add the beans and stock; make up to sufficient quantity (1 - 1.5 litres). Bring to a simmer and leave for 10 - 20 minutes. Roughly crush the beans with a liquidiser/magic wand; you want some lumps and whole beans left. Check the seasoning and serve (will probably need 1 tsp salt).

Serve with an assortment of garnishes. If you need more servings, add water/stock, and serve over a toasted crouton of a thick slice of good bread with that has been topped with cheese.

You can try this with stock cubes, even vegetarian (and omit the pancetta); use bacon instead of pancetta. Use chili powder (about 1 tsp) instead of fresh chili. Vary the garnishes, but the coriander makes a big difference. It’s possible to make this work with different beans; you could try haricot/flageolet/borlotti/cannellini (white beans) with a handful of chopped cooked ham, add parsley instead of coriander, and reduce the amount of chili (1/4 tsp).