Mushroom & Broad Bean Soup

Kapchi de Setas

New Potatoes 12, halved lengthways

Broad Beans 200 g

Olive Oil 4 Tbs

Onion 1 large, finely chopped

Garlic 3 cloves, finely chopped

Panca Chile Paste 1 Tbs

Portobello Mushrooms 8 large (about 800 g) or wild equivalent

Full-Fat Milk 250 ml

Huacatay or a few leaves each of Coriander, Tarragon and Parsley 1 Tbs, finely chopped

Mint Leaves a few, finely chopped

Queso Fresco or Feta 100 g, crumbled

Micro Herbs a few, to serve

Salt

1 PUT the new potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Salt the water, then put the pan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 8–10 minutes until just tender. Drain the potatoes and set aside.

2 BRING a small saucepan of water to the boil over a high heat. Add the broad beans and blanch for 2 minutes, then drain. If the broad beans are particularly large, you may want to peel off the bitter, outer skins (if they are small and tender, there's no need to do this). Set aside.

3 HEAT 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, deep-sided frying pan or casserole. Add the onion and sauté over a medium heat for 10 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and chile paste and cook for a further 2–3 minutes until the chile paste starts to separate. Set aside.

4 HEAT the remaining oil in a large frying pan. Add the mushrooms with a generous pinch of salt and sauté over a medium heat for 5–6 minutes until any liquid they release has evaporated and the mushrooms are softened and glossy. You may have to do this in more than one batch — if so, use the olive oil accordingly.

5 ADD the potatoes and broad beans to the onion mixture, then add the milk. Put the pan or casserole back over a medium heat and simmer for 10 minutes until everything is heated through. Add the huacatay or herb mixture and the mint, then the cooked mushrooms and finally the cheese. Stir everything together and simmer for 4–5 minutes more until the cheese is slightly softened. Serve immediately in bowls sprinkled with the micro herbs.

Recipe excerpted from Andina: The Heart of Peruvian Food: Recipes and Stories from the Andes by Martin Morales. Photographs by David Loftus and Dave Brown. Copyright © 2017 Quadrille Publishing. Excerpted by permission of Quadrille Publishing. All rights reserved.