Lardon and pancetta are commonly used as flavoring agents in soups and stews. But the salted pork, French or Italian, have distinctive tastes and I find that they sometime overwhelm the flavor of the dish. In fact, I prefer to prepare these dishes, especially soup, without meat or any sort of meat-based stock. I like the taste of vegetables.
However, beans and peas and pulses of all sorts are very bland and need a lot of help to enhance their flavor. So for this soup I chose to use merguez - a spicy mutton sausage used in Maghrebi (North African) cuisine.
BT's White Bean Soup With Merguez and Bitter Greens
Ingredients:
3 cups (28 ounces/ ~800 grams) cooked white beans (navy, cannellini, great northern)
1 large uncooked merguez sausage
1 medium yellow onion
2 small carrots
1 large bunch bitter greens (kale, sorrel, mustard greens, mustard cabbage, beet leaves)
3 cloves garlic - crushed
2 tablespoons fruity olive oil
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon fiori di finocchietto (fennel buds - you can use anise seed)
1 tablespoon arak (can use any anisette)
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 lemon - juice and zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 grinds black pepper
6 cups (1.5 l) water
1 small bunch cilantro and grated parmesan for garnish
Directions:
Add olive oil to heavy gauge cocotte and turn flame to medium
Slice merguez into coins and add to pot
Let brown on one side
Add garlic
Dice onion and carrots into small pieces and add
Sauté 2 minutes
Add cloves, celery salt, fiori di finocchietto and sauté 2 more minutes
Add arak and several grinds of black pepper
Add greens and sauté 2 minutes
Add water and turn flame up to high
Bring soup to boil
Add beans, bay leaves and thyme
Cover, turn flame to low and let simmer 20 minutes
Remove from heat
Remove bay leaves and thyme
Pour 1/4 soup into separate bowl and purée with a wand blender
Add purée to rest of soup and stir
Add lemon juice
Taste for salt
Serve soup very hot with cilantro, grated parmesan and lemon zest
Enjoy! !בתיאבון
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