Chorizo, bean and pasta soup – from Apron Strings

Nessa Robins, a fellow Irish food blogger, has just launched her cookery book ‘Apron Strings’ with the byline of ‘Recipes from a family kitchen.’  Here is very honest writing and robust home-cooking.  With a cover that is inviting you into the heart of her home to sit around the table and share precious time with her family, you slip inside and find yourself at ease.  A book that you can dig into at your leisure with each time you visit it you will find something new, eventually realising that a huge amount of work has gone into Apron Strings.

It genuinely made me gasp when I perused the book first.  You’ve the wonderful recipes and photographs that we have come to expect from modern cookbooks but there’s more.  Just flicking through it again there now, it’s almost like a home economics manual, with sections such as ‘Thrifty Tips for Running a Household’, ‘Lining Tins’, ‘Baking Tips’, ‘In the Family Way’, ‘Breastfeeding’, ‘Children’s Birthday Parties’, ‘Home Nurse’ & ‘Life Beyond the Kitchen Window’ which covers keeping hens, jam-making and composting amongst other things.  It really is a tome of a book, an investment book without an investment price. {You can buy Apron Strings here}
There are recipes here to please everyone and for a midweek family meal I chose to cook up Nessa’s ‘Chorizo, Bean & Pasta Soup.’  As Nessa herself says in the opening ‘Housekeeper’s Cut’ section of the book : ‘Often the leftovers from a meal can taste better the next day’ and that holds true for this dish.  While deliciously tasty day one, my husband was raving about how it tasted re-heated day 2, I think the chorizo must like the extra time to bequeath its flavour even more.

Chorizo, bean and pasta soup {from Nessa Robins book Apron Strings}
You will need:
200g chorizo
2 onions
1 carrot
1 red chilli
3 garlic cloves
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 yellow or red pepper
1 tsp tomato puree
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
500ml vegetable stock
1 x tin mixed beans
400g cooked pasta
Method:
Cut the chorizo into chunks and fry over a low/medium heat in a large saucepan for a couple of minutes until its oil has begun to be released.
Remove the chorizo pieces from the saucepan and set aside on a plate.
Peel and finely chop the onion, crush the garlic and add to the pan.
Peel and dice the carrot and add to the onions.  Allow the onion and carrot to gently cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the chopped red chilli, ½ tsp cumin and 1 tsp paprika, stir to combine and leave to toast the spices for a minute or two.
Deseed and chop the pepper and add to the pan along with tomato puree, tinned chopped tomatoes, vegetable stock and mixed beans.
Simmer for 25-30 minutes.
Add in the cooked pasta and the chorizo chunks to heat through for a couple of minutes before serving.

Enjoy,
‘Til next time, Sheila