Winter soup

SERVES 5-6

PREPARATION TIME 25 minutes COOKING TIME about 50 minutes

FOR THE SOUP

⚫ 2 carrots

⚫ 1 leek (white part only)

⚫ Extra-virgin olive oil, to fry

⚫ 1 large pinch dried oregano

⚫ 250g skinless boneless chicken

breast, cut into 3cm pieces

⚫ 1 onion, finely chopped

⚫ 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

⚫ 2 chicken or vegetable stock

cubes, crumbled

⚫ 250g cooked red haricot beans

⚫ 250g cooked white haricot beans

⚫ 3 spring onions, thinly sliced

⚫ 250g baby spinach

⚫ 2-4tbsp basil pesto (bought

or home-made), to serve FOR THE CROUTONS

⚫ 3-4 thick slices country bread

⚫ Extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle

⚫ Dried herbs and/or spices

your choice, seeds or ground (cumin, fennel, coriander, oregano, etc), to taste

⚫ 30g Parmesan, grated,

plus extra to serve

1 Peel the carrots and cut them crosswise into 5mm slices. Remove any damaged outer layers from the leek, slice in the same way as the carrots, and rinse.

2 Warm a little oil in a casserole dish over medium heat. Add the carrots and leek, season with salt, and stir to coat. Stir in the oregano and cook for 5min.

3 Add the chicken pieces and onion, stir, cook for 5-7min until the chicken is lightly browned. Add the garlic, crumbled stock cubes and 1.5 litres water then bring to a simmer. Simmer gently over low heat for 20-25min.

4 Remove from the heat and stir in the red and white haricot beans, followed by the spring onions and spinach. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and set aside.

5 To prepare the croutons, preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7. Cut the bread into large cubes. Place them in a bowl, drizzle with oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt, freshly ground black pepper, your choice of herbs and/or spices, and stir in the Parmesan. Spread over a baking sheet and cook in oven for 10-12min, stirring halfway, until crisp and evenly golden brown.

6 To serve, reheat the soup, ladle generous servings into soup plates, and add 1-2tsp pesto to each serving. Scatter over the croutons, grate some Parmesan over the top, and serve.