Name: Kale and Borlotti Bean Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: Winter
Ingredients: 2 tins borlotti beans, drained; 1 yellow onion, diced; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 2 stalks celery, finely chopped; 2 carrots, peeled sliced; 1 tsp chilli paste or 1/2 tsp chilli flakes; 1 Tbsp tomato puree; 1 tin chopped tomatoes; 2 bay leaves; 600ml vegetable stock; 1-2 handfuls of cavolo nero (black kale), roughly chopped; salt & pepper to taste

This hearty Kale and Borlotti Bean Soup will warm your soul even on the coldest of days! Created with seasonal veg and comforting flavours.

It’s the season for all the hearty meals – such as this Kale and Borlotti Bean Soup!

If you had asked me as a kid for my opinion on soup, it would have been: boring. As a kid I was always disappointed when I got home from school and heard my mum had made soup for lunch – it simply wasn’t exciting enough, ha! But maybe that was simply because at home we’d only ever eat the same 3 types of soup on repeat, and to be frankly honest: even as an adult I’d find that boring in a long term.

Years later, and here’s me constantly experimenting with soup recipes in the autumn & winter season and soups are suddenly not so boring anymore! I’m already bursting with new ideas of types of soups to try and ingredients to throw together in an experiment. How times have changed!

One thing I know for sure is that a hearty, veg loaded soup is the best thing on those first frosty days of the year – and a soup like this Kale and Borlotti Bean Soup is the perfect mix of seasonal veg & warming flavours.

What you’ll need to make Kale and Borlotti Bean Soup

Ingredients:

Borlotti Beans (I used Mr Organic)
onion
garlic
rapeseed oil
celery
bay leaves
carrots
chilli paste or flakes
tomato puree
chopped tomatoes
vegetable stock
cavolo nero (black kale)

Equipment:

cutting board & knife + peeler
Large saucepan

How to make Kale and Borlotti Bean Soup

When making soup it’s important to note that it’s no 10 minute job – good flavour takes a while to develop, but once you’ve got your soup on the stove, this one is an easy one to look after!

To get the best flavour for the soup, start with a little oil in your large saucepan and sauté the onion until translucent. This will release their full flavours, you can even cook it until it begins to caramelise for some extra flavour depth to your soup, but make sure not to burn it. Once your onion is ready, add the garlic in the next step and sauté this also for 1 minute without burning it – I recommend a medium heat here.

Stir in the chilli and tomato paste and combine it with the onion/garlic mix. Add the chopped vegetables and borlotti beans and stir through to get them all coated in the paste. Heat like this for a minute before adding in the chopped tomatoes, bay leaves and vegetable stock.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a minimum and allow for the soup to simmer for 25-30 minutes closed with a lid. Add in the chopped black kale for the last 2 minutes of the cooking time, then season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.

Remove the bay leaves before serving & enjoy the soup hot – or allow it to cool down to store & freeze for up to 3 months.

What you will love about this recipe:

it’s 100% vegan & plant based
it’s warming and comforting
it’s a hearty meal!
it’s perfect for cold autumn & winter days
it’s seasonal
it’s healthy!