Stone Soup
There once was a hungry wanderer. One day this wanderer found himself in a small village in the northern mountains of Portugal. The wanderer wandered his way to the center of town and set up a small camp. He lit a small fire on top of which he set a large pot filled with water and one stone. He then sat back waited, and watched the villagers walk by.
Jump to:
Eventually one of the villagers stopped and asked him "What are you doing?" The wanderer replied "I'm making stone soup." "What's stone soup?" asked the villager. "Well it's only the best soup there is. I'd share it with you but its just missing some onions." The villager wanting to try this stone soup ran off returning a few minutes later with a bunch of onions.
The wanderer continued to sit by his pot of water, stone and now onions, until he was approached by another villager. "What are you doing?" asked the local. "I'm making stone soup." responded the wanderer. Again the villager asked what it was. "Well, it's only the best soup there is." replied the wanderer. "I'd share it with you but it's just missing some meat." Off ran the villager to get the meat for the soup.
This continued until the whole village had contributed to what had become a very hearty pot of soup. The wanderer shared the soup with the villagers just like he said he would. Then he wandered off to the next town with a full belly, a pot, and a stone.
Our Soup
This story, or a variation of it, exists in lots of different places. I first heard it while travelling in Portugal with my wife a few years ago. The soup we had then, that went along with the story, is very similar to the soup that I make in this post. It is a nice light yet hearty soup that is great both for warm summer evenings and cold winter nights.
This is the kind of soup that comes together incredibly quickly because everything cooks in one pot. If you enjoy hearty soups like this, you might also love my loaded potato soup. Let's take a look at how to make it.
Cooking the Onions
I started cooking at 7:40 pm. Like in the story the first thing I had to do was get the onions cooking.
I first cut off the top and bottom of the onion and then cut it in half down the middle. Next up was to peel the onion and then thinly slice it along the grain.
While I was slicing the onion I had my pot preheating over medium heat. Once it was hot I added 2 tablespoon olive oil along with the sliced onion.
Adding the Chorizo
As the onion was cooking I went to work on the chorizo. I only used half a link which is about the equivalent of one standard sausage. Also, the chorizo I used was dry cured not fresh.
I cut the chorizo into quarters lengthwise and then diced those into pieces about 1 cm x 1 cm. I added this to the onions.
Red Pepper and Garlic
By 7:46 the onions were slightly softened and the chorizo had gone into the pot. It was time to take care of the garlic and red pepper.
I first cut the ends off the garlic. Then I gently crushed it under the side of my knife and pulled the peel off. All that was left was to thinly slice it.
For the red pepper I cut off the top and bottom. Then I sliced through one side of the pepper. I put my knife inside the pepper and cut the ribs free while unrolling the pepper. This allowed me to take the seed pod out in one piece without making a big mess. This also prevented me from wasting any pepper.
I set half the pepper aside and diced the other half along with the top and bottom.
Adding Garlic and Chilis
Once I was done cutting the pepper I turned the heat down slightly on my pot and added in the sliced garlic and about ½ teaspoon of chili flakes.
Dicing the Tomatoes
Next up was to dice a tomato. I cut it in half down the center, took out the stem, and then diced it. I added this to the pot.
Green Beans and Chicken Stock
At 7:54 pm I added the red peppers to the pot. While they were cooking I trimmed off the ends of about 20 green beans and then cut them into thirds. Once the beans were cut I added 1 L of chicken stock to the pot. I put the lid on the pot, cranked the heat up to high and waited for the soup to boil.
Draining the White Beans
At 7:58 I opened up a can of white beans and drained them. I also chopped up some parsley.
Adding the Beans and Eggs
At 8:00 the soup was boiling so I added in my green beans and white beans. I put the lid back on the pot and started cracking four eggs into a shallow bowl.
At 8:04 I lowered the heat on the soup to a simmer, removed the lid from the pot and gently poured the eggs in one at a time. I put the lid back on the pot and let the eggs cook for three minutes. If you want to learn more about this technique, check out my guide to poached eggs.
Finishing the Soup
At 8:07 I tasted and adjusted the seasoning of the soup with a bit of salt. I plated the soup with a poached egg in the middle and garnished it with a bit of chopped parsley. And that was that.
Final Thoughts
Being able to put a soup like this together in under 30 minutes is a great trick to have up your sleeve. Most of the flavour comes from the smoky chorizo and a little bit of sweetness from those peppers, and that poached egg on top brings it all together. This is one of my favourite quick weeknight dinners and I really think you'll enjoy it.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 baseball sized Onion. peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 link Dry Cured Chorizo Sausage, diced
- 2 cloves Garlic, peeled and sliced
- ½ ea Red bell pepper, sliced
- 20 ea Green beans, ends trimmed and cut into thirds
- 1 ea Tomato, diced
- 1 can White beans, drained
- 1 L Chicken Stock
- ½ teaspoon Chili Flakes
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 4 ea Eggs, broken into a shallow bowl
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat.
- Add the olive oil and onions.
- Sauté the onions until slightly softened, about two minutes.
- Add the diced chorizo into the pot and cook for about four minutes.
- Add the garlic and chili into the pot and cook for three minutes.
- Add the diced tomatoes then the red pepper.
- Cook the tomato and pepper for two to three minutes and then add in the chicken stock.
- Put a lid on the pot, crank the heat, and bring to a boil.
- Once the soup starts to boil add in the green beans and white beans then boil for another four minutes.
- Turn the heat down to low, add in the eggs one at a time, put the lid back on the pot and simmer for three minutes.
- Season to taste with salt and garnish with parsley.
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