Badger Soup
Description
A delicious take on Ribollita, a hearty Tuscan stew. This is a great way of using up veg, and you can even throw in a handful of stale bread at the end of cooking if you like, or simply serve with bread.Ingredients
4 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 small celeriac or 3 celery stalks, chopped
1×400g tin peeled plum tomatoes or 400g of fresh peeled tomatoes
250g dark green leaves such as cavolo nero, savoy cabbage, kale, broccoli or rape leaves
400g of cooked beans i.e. cannellini, borlotti, haricot or black turtle beans (see method below for cooking off beans) - or a tin of beans
200ml of cyder or local fruit wine
1 litre of bean juice, water or stock
Salt and pepper
Methods/steps
Soak 500g dried beans overnight in a large bowl of water with a pinch of baking powder to soften the beans.
Ideally in the morning place all the beans into a large saucepan and bring up to the boil, then immediately drain (this will remove any scum) and add fresh water.
Place 2 bay leaves and a half head of garlic into the beans s bring back up to the boil and cook gently for 40mins to an hour or until the beans are soft and still hold their shape. Drain and save bean juice for the soup
In another large saucepan, fry the onion gently for a few minutes, and then add the garlic
Add the chopped root vegetables and cook for a further 5 mins
Strip the nero or other green leaves off their stems and finely chop - roughly chop the leaves.
Add the tomatoes and continue to cook on a medium heat for a further 5 minutes to reduce their liquid.
Add the cannellini beans. Then add the green leaves, stir until just wilted. Add the alcohol, juice or stock and gently simmer for 40mins or until the root vegetables are cooked
Leave for 30mins for the flavours to mingle. Then serve with a great sourdough bread.
Additional Tips
Recipe from Simon Parker from the Sticky Fingers Project at the Food Partnership.