My favourite soup recipe originates from Normandy although I have adapted it to suit motorhome cooking. It’s chunky, full of flavour from wholesome vegetables, and will serve four people. You can cook the soup in advance and freeze it if you don’t want to be bothered with too much cooking in the motorhome.
Ingredients: 1 litre/1¾ pints of water; 2 medium size potatoes; 2 leeks; a 410g tin of red kidney beans; ¼ of a cabbage; 2 sticks of celery; sprigs of fresh parsley or about a teaspoon of dried parsley.
Clean or peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters or large chunks, cut the leeks and celery into lengths of about 2½cm/1 inch, coarsely cut the cabbage, and drain the beans. Bring the water to the boil – you can add a vegetable stock cube if you want to add flavour – then add the prepared vegetables and simmer with the lid on for about half an hour or until the vegetables are cooked properly. Add the chopped parsley, season with pepper to taste and cook for a further few minutes. Serve hot with large chunks of crusty fresh bread.
You can vary the beans by using haricot beans, flageolets, blackeye beans, or a mixture of your favourites (tinned, dried, or fresh beans depending on what you have available). Stir in 50ml/2 fl oz of cream just before serving if you want a richer soup. Paulie White
