Catalan farmer's soup

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 2 large potatoes, diced
• 3 m.-large carrot(s), cut into strips
• 2 onions or 3, chopped
• 1 leek(s), cut into rings
• 1 small can of white beans, approx. 250 g drained weight
• 400 g kale, chopped, frozen
• 100 g rice
• 80 g pasta, small (shell pasta or fork spaghetti)
• ½ chicken, or 1 chicken breast and 2 thighs
• 125 g bacon, diced
• 300 g beef
• 1 liter chicken broth
• 0.8 liters of meat broth
• 2 tsp, heaped paprika powder
• 1 tbsp paprika paste
• Thyme or rosemary
• oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes

Countryside shield

Brown the finely chopped beef in a deep pan or casserole dish with hot oil until well browned. Season with salt and pepper. Add a tablespoon of paprika and fry briefly. Deglaze with a cup of hot chicken stock and loosen the sediment. Add the remaining stock until the meat is covered. Let the meat simmer for about 1 hour and then set aside. The stock can be reduced. Cut the chicken into small pieces and fry in another pot with the bacon and chopped onions until well browned. Add the potatoes, leeks, carrots, kale and the beef with the stock and top up with the meat stock. Add the paprika and thyme. When the potatoes are tender, add the beans, rice and pasta and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. If the soup is too thick, add a little more stock. Season with pepper and salt if necessary and serve. This recipe is based on an old Spanish recipe. The soup doesn’t look pretty, but we’ve enjoyed it for years!