SOPA DA PEDRA - PORTUGUESE STONE SOUP





Stone Soup is an old folk story in which some travellers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travellers. Then the travellers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travellers answer that they are making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavour, which they are missing. The villager does not mind parting with a few carrots to help them out, so that gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travellers again mention their stone soup which has not reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.

Serves 6


Ingredients

• 250 g red kidney beans
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 125 g bacon, cut into pieces
• 125 g chorizo
• 4 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 turnips, peeled and diced
• 1 small head savoy cabbage, shredded
• 1 can (400 g) chopped plum tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 liters chicken stock
•  Fresh coriander, chopped

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a big pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the bacon, chorizo​​, potatoes, carrots, turnips, tomatoes, bay leaf and stock.
4. Raise heat, bring to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
5. Pick up the bay leaf and discard.
6. Remove the chorizo ​​and cut into centimeter-sized pieces.
7. Put back in the pot, add the kidney beans and coriander and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes so that everything is heated through.
8. Pour into warm soup bowls and serve immediately.