So I know every week I say 'this is the most delicious soup I've ever eaten' - but I think I'm currently on a soup roll. (Soup with a roll?) This is a Spanish-influenced white bean soup with smoked paprika. And so much garlic, even the cats will avoid you. In fact, I'm thinking of calling it 'Lockdown Soup' because it has so much garlic, it can only be eaten when social distancing. It’s finished with half a hard boiled egg (currently hard to get and may as well be rationed), cayenne, and chopped parsley. As with all Spanish stuff, the extra virgin Olive oil is an essential ingredient, as is quite a salty stock.
This is also the easiest soup I’ve ever made. You literally combine the ingredients and boil.
Recipe (sort of)
Serves 4 normal people or two of me
A can of white beans in brine - cannellini or butter beans, including brine. Its important you get the properly cooked ones in brine, and not the healthy rock hard ones in water that you get in little class supermarkets. They are for the kind of people who eat Quinoa, so anything they eat you probably want to avoid.
An onion, chopped
A bogload of smoked paprika (I used sweet)
So much garlic that your chances of heart disease are dramatically lowered in one sitting, not to mention your likelhood of being attacked by vampires, or indeed, approached by anyone who would consider kissing you. If you want an exact measurement, I would say somewhere between a fucktonne and gobs and gobs. Or about 5 large cloves.
A veritable ocean of extra virgin olive oil
A small amount of passata or tomato puree - hold back here, you want the flavour to be paprika, olive oil, and not tomato. But it helps for sweetness. You could use one fresh tomato, seeds removed for a slightly fruitier, more acidic flavour.
Salty vegetable stock - I used Marigold because ain't nobody got time to make fresh
Cayenne pepper
Black pepper
This is pretty rustic, with robust flavours that will kick you right up the pendejo. Therefore, there's no need to sweat the onions first - not doing so keeps their sharpness and kick. Just chop the onion, combine all the ingredients, and top up with stock, and a good amount of olive oil. Bring to the boil and then simmer for around 30 minutes, until the onion is soft.
Top with half a hard-boiled egg, extra olive oil, and parsley. If you're vegan, omit the egg, and add some finely chopped cucumber, as you would with gazpacho, instead.
You will not believe how amazing this is - and despite its slight heat, and richness, seems perfect for summer. Probably because I remember eating this kind of thing in Seville, in-between buckets of Cruzcampo and Havana Club y Coca Cola.