Wednesday 5 March 2014

Ham Hock, Borlotti Bean and Kale Soup

Ham Hock, Borlotti Bean and Kale Soup
Feeds 4

For the ham and stock
1 ham hock
1 carrot
1 onion
A few black peppercorns
2 or 3 bay leaves

3 large floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
A good pinch of saffron
A pinch of cayenne pepper
750ml of ham stock
Ham from your cooked hock
250g of cooked borlotti beans
A few handfuls of sliced kale

1 - To cook your ham and make stock, put all of the ham and stock ingredients into a pot. Cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 2-2 and a half hours. The meat will be cooked when it falls from the bone.
2 - Remove the ham and leave to cool. Remove the fat and then peel off the chunks of delicious, gelatinous ham.
3 - Pour the stock through a sieve and reserve. You can freeze what you don't use.
4 - To make the soup, heat up the oil in a pan. Add the onion, celery, carrot and potato and cook for 5 minutes. Add the paprika, cayenne and saffron and stir for 1 minute.
5 - Pour in the stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes, or until the carrot and potato have softened.
6 - Add the beans and kale. Simmer for a further 10 minutes.
7 - Finally, stir in the ham and heat through. Taste for seasoning then serve in large bowls with good, crusty bread.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yo david,
Had a good book the cook Sunday, made the belly pork and the banoffie pie.

The pork was amazing, great flavours, usually with stuff like that you do all the prep and then can hardly taste
the herbs, but the cumin, fennel and orange were amazing!. It went down a treat.

Banoffie is a good crowd pleaser too. Easy to make and looks like you’ve sweated in the kitchen over it. Double brownie points this weekend!

Keep up the good work.

Cheers, Ben

David Hall said...

Cheers Ben! Glad the weekend went well. I don't think you can go wrong with a piece of pork belly. Lots of melting fat, and the cumin and fennel just seem to work.

All the best
David

Pat said...

David your soup sounds really yummy. Going to give it a go here. Thanks!!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you David, I am going to have a go at your soup! I reckon chris (hubby) will love it.

Vxx (one of your brothers (daz) many admirers)

Thistlemoon said...

I absolutely ADORE Edinburgh! One of the best places I have ever been. The food was great, the history amazing and the people super friendly!

This dish looks wonderful!

Rosie said...

Hi David,
Your post brought back fond memories; it's been a few years since I visited Edinburgh with its quaint cobbled streets. It's been really nice to read about your visit and 'The Spoon Cafe' in Blackfriars Street. Now you enchant us with a great sounding soup too, couldn't be more perfect!

Rosie x

Abitofafoodie said...

Oh how I miss Edinburgh - I used to live there and don't get back often enough. Never discovered this cafe though, so I'll have to look out for it next time!
Your soup sounds divine - I always think that ham stock makes the best soups ever.

David Hall said...

Pat - glad you like
V - thankyou! Let me know what you and Chris thinks about it
Jenn/Rosie/Antonia - what a city! I missed it too, hadn't been back for years and we had a hoot, although exhausting with the little one with us. Next time - just us!

Cheers
David

Anonymous said...

It's ages since I've been to Edinburgh but I agree it's a fantastic place.

That soup/broth looks amazing. It'll definitely be made here, thank you for sharing the recipe :)

Ed Bruske said...

You had me with ham hock, David. I really like the sound of that soup.

Anonymous said...

Yummy recipe!!! I added a few slices of jamon iberico de bellota also known as iberico ham or pata negra thinly cut. This Spanish ham has a strong and delicious flavor, therefore you do not need much, only 50 grams or 1.8 OZ for four people which I sprinkle once the soup is already served.
You can find jamon iberico at BuyJamon.com

BuyJamon.com the market place for iberico ham.

Anonymous said...

Great soup. Tomorrow will be the first run with borlotti beans (previously with cannellini). Unfortunatly, could not find the tremendous paprika I used on the first batch. Thank you for turning me on to this great combination as a soup.

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