A hearty soup for the cold months!
Ingredients
- 1 small whole ham hock (450g)
- 160 g smoked ham/smoked streaky bacon
- 300 g mixed beans like butter beans, chickpeas, kidney beans etc (soaked overnight then boiled in salted water until just soft)
- 2 tsp paprika
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 3-4 potatoes (peeled and cubed)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 celery sticks (chopped)
- 2 onions (chopped)
- 3 l water
- salt and pepper to taste
- flat leaf parsley to finish
- 1 red chilli (de-seeded and chopped)
- chilli paste/tom yum paste to finish
Method
- Boil the ham hock in the water until tender for approx 1 ½ hours
- Strain and keep the stock then check for saltiness, if its too salty for a stock dilute with some water to taste
- Cool the ham hock, trim and chop into pieces
- Cut the raw smoked ham into similar sized pieces ready to cook
- Add a little oil to a large pan
- Sweat off the onion, garlic, chilli & celery until soft
- Now add the ham hock meat, smoked ham and paprika and stir well
- Add the stock which should be about 2 litres
- Add the bay leaf and peppercorns
- Simmer for about 1 hour then add the diced potato, mix well
- Then simmer for approx ½ an hour to cook the potato on a low heat until the meat is soft and tender
- Now add the precooked bean mixture ( or open a can or two of the beans and wash off then add those)
- Finish with chopped parsley and a little chilli paste and season to taste
- Serve with chopped chillies and chilli paste on the side and a nice bowl of sour cream.
Notes
Phelim's tip: To save time you can use canned beans rather than dried.
