Making beans takes time but we have to wait for every good thing anyway. This red bean kidney soup has all the goodies one would need for a lovely meal.
1teaspoonPaprikaor cayanne, chili powder if hot preferred
1sliceSpanish hamoptional
8slicesSpanish chorizooptional like this
1handful Spinach
1Parsnip or Hamburg parsley rootoptional
7cup/ 1.7L Water
12oz/ 400g Carrotsliced
Instructions
Dry beans needs to be soaked well before cooking. Generally it needs at least 12 hours of soaking but instructions are on the packaging for the particular types. Rinse the beans before placing them into a pot. Fill the pot with water and then add a teaspoon of salt to the soaking water. Put the lid on as to avoid any unwelcomed guest dying into our next day meal.
Slice up the pork belly or the bacon then fry it on medium heat until it loses most of its fat content. We can skip this step and use any kind of cooking oil or lard instead of making one.
Add the diced onion on top with a teaspoon of salt. Saute the onion until it gets a translucent/glassy look then add the diced carrot too. If there is time we can also caramelize a bit the onion and the carrot here by lowering the heat and frying and stirring it until it gets a light brownish color. This would take around 15-25 minutes. It gives a scent of sweet taste to the soup and a thicker texture at the end so it's definitely worth it.
Add the chopped up or sliced garlic, black pepper and parsley then saute it for a minute or so until the garlic lets out it's lovely scent. Mind not to burn it though as that will ruin the dish.
Add the meat or the bone and mix it together with the onion as much as possible.
Add the beans, paprika or cajun and the optional ham, chorizo spinach leaves and the tomato. Mind not the fry the paprika as it burns quickly and can ruin the dish. When the beans were washed before being soaked then we can use the soaking water for cooking as well otherwise it's better the rinse them before pouring it into the cooking pot. It's a bit tricky to know the right amount of water at first try so draining the soaking water into a measuring jug to know what amount we are using could be a good idea. Less water is never a problem though as we can always add more to it. Too much water could ruin the soup in a second by making it too thin in texture and flavor.
Add the parsnip or the Hamburg parsley root or both to the soup if available.
Put the lid on and cook it on slow heat for about an hour. After 50 minutes check by tasting if the beans are tender enough or still too tough.
When the beans are soft but still have some hard bits that means that it's soon going to be ready. Add the carrots then bring the water to boil. From the boiling point cook it for 10 more minutes.
Serve it with a teaspoon of creame fraiche, sour cream or plain natural yogurt.