JANUARY SOUP

Today has been one of those really nasty, cold ,wet,dark ans miserable January days, from dawn to dark the rain fell in torrents occasionally turning to sleet and by eleven in the morning it was as dark as it had been at eight. In fact it never really got light at all and the penetrating cold only added to the misery.

On such a day hot tasty food is a great comfort and a hearty soup is ,perhaps the finest antidote to the winter blues. We call the following recipe January Soup as we often make it early in the New Year, it uses up left over ham (if you have any) otherwise you can boil a bacon hock or use chunks of cooked bacon.

You will need.

2 Sticks of celery roughly chopped

1 large carrot, roughly chopped chopped

2 red onions quartered

1 leek, washed and sliced

3 medium sized potatoes, chopped

a hand full of fresh thyme or parsley

1 tin of cannellini beans

8 oz cooked ham diced into 3 cm pieces

stock.

2 tablespoons of Olive oil

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Pour the olive oil in to a large pan and heat,then add the cut up veggies and heat for ten minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add enough stock to cover the veggies and a couple of sprigs of the thyme.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes stirring from time to time.

Meanwhile finely chop the remaining thyme or parsley and mix with olive oil, add a little salt and leave to infuse.

When the veggies are cooked blitz the whole lot in a blender adding more stock until you have the consistency of soup you prefer, “we like ours quite thick”.

Add the diced ham and pour in the beans then simmer for a further ten minutes, Season at the end of cooking time as the gammon adds its own saltiness to the soup.

Serve in warmed bowls and sprinkle with the thyme oil. Warm crusty bread or hot buttered toast are the best accompaniment to this soup.