This is a delicious soup and makes for a hearty lunch with some nice crusty bread. Plentiful red onion lends sweetness, celery, lime and coriander freshness and the cashew drizzle gives extra creaminess.
The soup uses tinned beans for convenience but better still and more cost effective if you have the time to cook the cook the beans from scratch.
Ingredients (serves 6)
- 2 tins of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 large red onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 red chillies, finely chopped
- 4 sticks of celery, trimmed and finely sliced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 Ltr of stock made with 1 heaped tbsp of vegan bouillon
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and extra for drizzling
- 2 bay leaves
- A small bunch of coriander, finely chopped.
- 100g raw cashew nuts
- 1 lime, juice and zest
Method
Start by putting the cashew nuts in a bowl and covering them with cold water.
Next, bring a large pan to a medium heat and add the olive oil and onion. Sweat the onion on a low heat for about 10 minutes. Caramelising it properly will lend a lot of flavour to the soup. Next, add the garlic and the chopped chillies and cook those for an extra couple of minutes. Add the celery next and cook that for 3-4 minutes before adding the tomato paste and sugar. Give everything a good stir and then add the rinsed and drained beans, chopped tomatoes, bay leaves and stock. Bring the soup to the boil, reduce the heat, cover the pan and cook for 1 hour, stirring 2-3 times in that time to ensure the beans don’t catch on the bottom of the pan.
Put the cashew nuts in the jug of a stick blender and add 125ml cold water. Blitz to a smooth thick cream consistency. Season with salt, pepper and some of the lime zest.
When the soup has cooled a little, discard the bay leaves and blitz in a blender. Return to the pan and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Last, add the remaining lime zest and lime juice to your taste.
Serve the soup with a drizzle of cashew cream, some extra virgin olive oil, the fried beans and some finely chopped coriander.