Serves:
4 people
Cooking Time:
60 minutes
Ingredients
- 8 oz canned red beans, drained
- 2 cups chopped pumpkin
- ⅛ cup water
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 4 slices of bacon, chopped
- 2 small red onions, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
- ½ head fennel, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 small bunch fresh basil, leaves and stalks separated
- 1 tomato, diced
- 2 small zucchini, quartered and sliced
- 8 oz spinach, washed and roughly sliced (including stalks)
- 2 cups chicken, ham or vegetable stock
- 2 oz quinoa
- Sea salt and pepper
Instructions
- Add red beans and pumpkin to a pan with rosemary, 1 tbsp olive oil and water. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, or until pumpkin is tender. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- In the meantime, add 2 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan with chopped bacon, onions, carrots, celery, fennel, garlic and basil. Sweat very slowly on a low heat, with the lid just ajar, for around 15 to 20 minutes until soft, but not brown.
- Add tomato and zucchini and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
- Now add spinach, stock, quinoa and beans and pumpkin mixture. Stir and continue to simmer until quinoa is cooked.
- If you think the soup is looking too thick, add a little more stock. Then taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with the torn-up basil leaves and with some extra virgin olive oil drizzled over the top.
