This is a delicious soup recipe from Cooking by Jeremy Lee. Make it on a cold day when you don’t have very much else to do, it takes an age but tastes amazing. You need to soak the beans the night before.
Chestnut, bacon, bean and pumpkin soup – serves 6
- 2 small onions
- 3 sticks of celery
- 3 large carrots
- 1 smoked ham hock or diced smoked pancetta
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- a small stick of rosemary
- a small handful of thyme
- 4 bay leaves
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
- a big pinch of dried chilli flakes
- 250g dried borlotti beans, soaked overnight in lots of cold water
- 1 small pumpkin or a wedge of pumkin, roughly 1kg
- 250g vac-packed chesnuts
- Parmesan and good extra virgin olive oil, to serve
Peel and cut the onions, celery and carrot into chunky pieces. If using a smoked ham hock cut it into small cubes.
Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy saucepan and add the pork, herbs, garlic, chilli flakes and vegetables. Stir well, cover with a lid and cook over a gentle heat, stirring occaionally, for roughly 1½ – 2 hours. If your ring is hot they may take a bit less time than this to become soft and caramelised. The idea is to cook them as slowly as possible until you achieve this then proceed with the recipe.
Drain the beans and rinse under cold water until it runs clear. Put the beans into a saucepan with lots of cold water and bring the boil over a high heat. Drain well and lightly rinse, then tip them on to the vegetables and cover with 4-5cm of water. Bring to the boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for at least an hour or until the beans are tender. Don’t be tempted to stir the soup while the beans are cooking, you want them to hold together.
Heat the oven to 180C and roast the pumpkin whole for 40 minutes to 1 hour or until soft and fudgy. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then remove the seeds and skin. Purée the cooked pumpkin and add to the cooked beans.
Chop the chestnuts coarsely and add them to the soup, then gently reheat. Take care when stirring to keep the beans as intact as possible. Season well with salt and black pepper.
Serve in warm bowls with lots of grated Parmesan cheese and drizzled with your best olive oil.
(Original recipe from Cooking by Jeremy Lee, 4th Estate, 2022.)
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