Spicy Chorizo, Bean and Tomato Soup Recipe

It’s snowing and freezing in London today.  Perfect weather for some hearty, winter soup!

Sometimes, I get a craving for a particular taste and then search the fridge and food cupboards to see what I can throw together to create the flavour I’m after.

After Christmas there was some chorizo leftover in the fridge which I decided to make into a soup. I felt like something warming and spicy, with texture, that would also be filling.

After a bit of rummaging in the cupboards, I came up with this recipe for a spicy chorizo, bean and tomato soup which was absolutely delicious and really hit the spot.

Feel free to experiment with proportions and ingredients.  It was all rather haphazardly thrown together in the first place. Here goes.

Recipe for Spicy Chorizo, Bean and Tomato Soup

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• Approximately half a dried, cured chorizo sausage ring (more if you fancy a stronger flavour)
• 3 red onions
• 1 bulb of garlic (less if you’re not a fan of garlic)
• 1 large red pepper
• 1 red chilli pepper
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin haricot beans (or any other beans, e.g. kidney or borlotti)
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• Hot water
• Tamari or soya sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Tomato ketchup
• Black pepper
• Paprika
• Butter
• Olive oil

Method:

Finely chop the red onions, garlic, and red pepper. De-seed the red chilli pepper and chop.

Place a large saucepan on a low to medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil and a knob of butter.

Add the red onions, garlic, red chilli and red pepper and allow them to sweat, releasing the flavours and softening them.

Chop the dried, cured chorizo sausage into small pieces and add.

Before the onions, peppers and chorizo start to brown add the vegetable stock in approximately 600ml of hot water.  Allow to simmer.

Rinse the haricot beans before adding with the chopped tomatoes.

For flavour, add a dash of tamari or soya sauce, a dash of worcestershire sauce, half a teaspoon of paprika powder and black pepper to taste.  There’s no need to add salt as the tamari or soya sauce is salty.

I also like to add a squirt of tomato ketchup whenever I cook with tin tomatoes as it takes the edge off the slightly sour, acidic taste and adds a little bit of sweetness.

Check if you think you need to add a bit more water – perhaps an extra 100ml or so – depending on how thick you like your soup.

Place the lid on the saucepan and allow to simmer for 20 minutes until thoroughly cooked.

If you prefer your soup smooth, then place in a food processor and blend to the consistency you like.  I prefer my soups to be chunky, so I use a potato masher and mash the soup until it’s chunky but not smooth.

Serve immediately in bowls and enjoy with warm, crusty bread and lashings of butter. Yum!