Rustic Pork and Bean Soup

Pork, white beans and cabbage. All very typical ingredients for a winter stew or soup in the Touraine. Very humble, fresh locally grown produce, simply cooked to provide a surprisingly delicious and comforting meal in under an hour.

Dried white beans, grown by my orchard neighbour.

Ingredients:
500 g pork mince
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp chilli powder
An onion, chopped fairly small
A small green cabbage, shredded
A large tin of chopped tomatoes
A litre of chicken stock
1.5 cups cooked white beans
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Lightly brown the mince in a soup boiler.
2. Add the herbs, chilli and onion, and cook on low heat for 5 minutes.
3. Add the cabbage, tomatoes, stock and beans.
4. Season with salt and pepper (I suggest about 1/2 tsp salt and half a dozen good turns of the pepper grinder).
5. Simmer for 20 minutes. Serves 8. (331 calories per serve).

 Preparing curly cabbage.

The sausage mince I used is called chair à farci (stuffing flesh). It is usually seasoned with garlic and parsley and can be purchased from any local supermarket or butcher, especially in the summer, when it is used to stuff big tomatoes. The fresh vegetables came from my local organic market garden, Les Jardins Vergers de la Petite Rabaudière. They sell from the farm every Monday evening and at the market in Preuilly every Thursday morning. The tinned tomatoes are just standard supermarket fare.

Browning the pork mince and adding the onion.

The chicken stock came from poaching a chicken that was used for another recipe. The white beans came from the Aged One who grew them in his garden, dried and shelled them. In French they are called lingots or mogettes. There must be some difference between the two, but I've never worked out what it is. I soaked 500 g of beans for several hours, then simmered for 40 minutes in plain water. The excess that I didn't need for this recipe I divided into two lots and froze for later use.

Yum

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