Broccoli, Cauliflower & Bean Soup (Recipe)

Its that time of year when all I want to do is eat hearty soups with crusty bread whilst waiting for the summer to show up. I've just made my latest creation and, as I sit here full as an egg, I'm being sensible and typing the recipe up as a blog post; firstly so that I can share it, and secondly, so that I don't lose it!

Ok, so this is what I just ate:

...and this is what you need in order to do the same :)

INGREDIENTS:
1 small onion - diced
2 garlic cloves - chopped
300g Cauliflower & broccoli florets (or you can just do one or the other, if you want)
1 Red chilli - chopped
1 Tin of Baked Beans (Supermarket own brand is fine)
900ml stock
50g broken spaghetti
2tbsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp of each: Oregano, Parsley, Thyme & Mixed herbs


Put the oil in the pan and fry the onions for a few minutes until they become translucent, then add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.


Add the chopped chilli and the herbs and fry for a further minute to release the flavours from the herbs.

Add the cauliflower/broccoli and the stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 mins.

Put in the broken spaghetti and continue to simmer for 8 minutes before finally adding the tin of beans, sauce and all. It just needs around 5 more minutes for the beans to warm through and for the pasta to soften completely.

So that is it! And it tastes better the next day, as soups usually do. It's at this point that I normally stir in a fair sized dollop of my home-made chilli sauce (I do it at the eating stage so that I have the choice whether to have it super spicy or not) either that or I use the sauce that I buy from The Chilli Alchemist - his stuff is fantastic, you should really try it.

You can find his website here: http://www.chillialchemist.co.uk and he's on Facebook here: The Chilli Alchemist - Facebook