Oaxacan Black Bean Soup

Another recipe from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen and one that was always going to be a challenge to photograph well given the ingredient list. This was really simple, almost unbelievably so given the amount of flavour in the final dish, and was just a case of putting all the ingredients into a pot and leaving them to cook. A quick blitz with a hand-blender and that’s it.

I didn’t actually get to eat it due to an unplanned dental emergency but I enjoyed what I tasted while I was cooking it. Stephen said it was deep and earthy and enjoyed it with a squeeze of lime.

Oaxacan Black Bean Soup
Serves Two (but not that generously)

1 cup black beans
1/2 bulb fennel, roughly chopped
1/4 cup chorizo (I used four small sausages)
1 small white onion, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Corn tortillas or chips, to serve

Place the beans in a pot and cover with three cups of water. Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer.

Add the fennel, chorizo and onion, partially cover and simmer over a low heat until the beans are tender (about 1.5 hours). Add more water if necessary.

Blend, season and serve with toasted corn tortillas or chips. We added some mozarella too which isn’t strictly authentic but it worked well.

I didn’t blend this until completely smooth but you could do if you wanted to.

There was some confusion over the fennel: the original recipe calls for “1 rib fresh fennel” which I assumed was one bulb and, since I halved the recipe, I used half a bulb of fennel. Stephen thinks the “rib” may refer to one leaf. Google can’t help us. I don’t actually like fennel but thought this could do with increasing next time since it added such a fragrant note.

I would increase the chorizo next time too and I think some chopped coriander and that squeeze of lime that Stephen added would be good too.

The original recipe suggests shrimp would be a good addition, these just need to be added to boiling soup and cooked for two minutes before serving.