Turkish Village soup with bread and caraway

8tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 large carrots, trimmed, peeled, and finely chopped
4 sticks of celery, trimmed and finely chopped
Sea salt and black pepper
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3tsp caraway seeds
3tbsp roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
1x400g tin whole plum tomatoes, drained of juice and broken up
500g white cabbage, thinly sliced and chopped
1.25 litres water, or 1 litre and 250ml bean liquor
400g cooked borlotti or pinto beans (200g dried weight), or 2 x 400g tins, drained and rinsed
200g day old ciabatta or rustic white sourdough bread, crusts removed and torn into bite sized pieces.
Heat the oil over medium heat, add the onion, carrots, celery, and a pinch of salt and fry gently for 15-20 min, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to turn golden.
Add the garlic, caraway and half the parsley and fry for 1-2 minutes, then add the tomatoes. Cook for another 5-8 minutes, again stirring occasionally. Add the cabbage and water or stock and bring to the boil, then simmer over a low heat for 20 min, until the cabbage is almost cooked.
Add beans and simmer for a further 10 min, stirring frequently until the cabbage is tender.
Remove from the heat and taste for seasoning, then stir in the bread, and the rest of the parsley. Leave for 5 min for the bread to absorb the liquid. The soup should be thick, almost like a stew, if it is too dry, add a little more water or bean liquor. Serve drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

This is another from The Country Cook. I am totally obsessed with this book right now. Every recipe I try from it, I fall in love with. This one was no exception. It was so hearty, and healthy, and filling and comforting. If you have never tried a bread soup (I only heard of them in the past year or so), try one. The bread makes it thick like stew, it’s like dipping good bread into your soup, but much much better. Right now, bread soups are the only soups that I can get my boys to eat. They like a soup you can eat with a fork.

There’s not much to say about cooking this. It’s really simple and straightforward. If you are pressed for time, you can do all the chopping in advance. I did that, and it made the actual cooking a total breeze. The moment when you add the garlic and caraway mixture, it releases the most amazing smell. I would make it again just for that.

With the beans and the greens and the bread, this is a whole meal in a bowl, and it’s vegetarian/vegan friendly.

Try this!