BEAN AND BACON SOUP

Steps:

• Chop the bacon, then fry it in the large saucepan you will use the the soup. The idea is not to crisp it but to render the fat: cook it on a low heat with the lid on for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan, leaving any rendered fat in the pan
• Whilst the bacon is cooking, roughly chop the onion, garlic and leek and peel and slice the carrot. Once the bacon is done, put all of these into the pan and stir in the bacon fat. Add a generous splash of cider vinegar and allow to cook gently for about 5 minutes.
• Add the water, stock, bouillon, paprika, bay leaves and puree to the vegetables. Stir through and then leave to simmer for about an hour.
• Once cooked, add the bacon and then put through a blender and return to the pan (or use an immersion blender in the pan) before adding the drained and rinsed beans. Allow to heat through for 15 minutes.
• Season to taste and serve with crusty bread.
• This recipe is my (remarkably successful) attempt to recreate a covent garden soup of the month recipe - I think I actually like this mor than the original!