Hairy Bikers big soup gets its flavour from just 75g of chorizo, spread across six generous bowls. Carrots, green beans, cannellini beans and curly kale fill it out in a tomato broth. It comes from The Hairy Dieters Eat for Life at 157 calories a portion.
They write in the book that it is a big soup to make you smaller, and call it a wholesome lunch for a cold day. The name is the joke and the point at once, since the bowl is enormous but the count is not.
Everything green goes in at the end, together. Green beans, cannellini beans and kale all join the pan after twelve minutes of simmering, then cook for ten more, so the beans stay firm and the kale keeps its colour.
Hairy Bikers Big Soup
Description
A tin of tomatoes and 1.5 litres of stock make the base, sharpened with hot smoked paprika and a teaspoon of sugar. Carrots go in early and stay firm. Green beans, cannellini beans and kale join this Hairy Bikers big soup for the final ten minutes.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Soften the onion: Heat the oil in a large non-stick saucepan or a big flameproof casserole dish. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently for 5 minutes until softened but not coloured, stirring often.
- Prepare the vegetables: While the onion is frying, peel the carrots and slice them into rough 1.5cm chunks. Trim the green beans and cut them into 3cm lengths.
- Add the chorizo: Add the chorizo, paprika and carrots to the pan and cook over a low heat for 2 minutes, stirring, until the chorizo begins to release its fat. Season with salt and lots of black pepper.
- Add the liquid: Tip in the tomatoes, then add the stock and sugar and turn the heat up to medium.
- Simmer: Bring to the boil, reduce the heat slightly and leave to simmer for 12 minutes.
- Add the beans and kale: Add the canned and fresh beans and the kale, bring back to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes, until all the vegetables are just tender. Add a splash of water if it looks too thick.
- Serve: Season with salt and black pepper and serve in deep bowls.
FAQs
How is it only 157 calories?
Because the chorizo is used as seasoning rather than as meat. There is 75g in the whole pan, which comes to 12.5g a bowl, and a tablespoon of oil is the only other fat in the recipe.
Vegetables and beans do the filling instead. Their caldo verde uses 50g of chorizo per serving, four times as much, and lands at 340 calories a bowl.
What garnish do they suggest?
A tablespoon of half-fat crème fraîche and a sprinkle of paprika, which the book says adds only 25 calories a portion. That takes the bowl to 182 and gives you the swirl that makes it look finished.
The tip appears in the book but not on their website. Use the same hot smoked paprika that went into the pan, so the garnish echoes what is already in the soup rather than adding something new.
Can I use different beans?
Cannellini are what the recipe asks for, because they hold their shape while staying creamy inside. Butter beans work and are larger, while haricot are smaller and firmer.
Rinse and drain whichever you use. The starchy liquid in the tin will cloud the broth, and this soup is meant to look clear and red rather than thick.
Why does sugar go in?
One teaspoon, added with the tinned tomatoes. Tinned tomatoes carry an acidity that leaves a soup tasting sharp, and the sugar rounds it off without making anything taste sweet.
Their tomato soup with fresh tomatoes uses the same trick, with one to two teaspoons depending on how ripe the fruit is. Taste first and add the second only if it needs it.
Does it freeze well?
Yes, and with no dairy in the pan there is nothing to split, so it comes back well. Cool it and freeze in portions for up to three months.
The green beans and kale soften a little on reheating, which is the only real cost. Keep the crème fraîche for the table rather than stirring it in beforehand. Their gammon steaks go the other way entirely, built on a parsley sauce that wants eating straight away.
