Serves 4-5
This is a marvellously rustic and enjoyable soup to both make and eat.
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
250g/9oz chorizo sausage, sliced into 1.5cm/½ins pieces
1 large onion, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 hot red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
125ml white wine
1kg/2.2lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 2.5cm/1ins cubes
500ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
½-1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp dried tarragon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g/2oz blanched almonds, toasted and coarsely ground with a pestle and mortar
chopped fresh flat leaf parsley to garnish
Method
Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and fry the chorizo for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the onion, garlic and chilli. Fry gently for 10 minutes or until the onion has softened. Pour the white wine into the pan and gently simmer for another minute to evaporate the alcohol. Add the potatoes and stock and mix well. Add the paprika, celery salt and tarragon, stir thoroughly and bring back to the boil.
Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer until the potatoes are cooked. Add a little boiling water to the pan if it looks like there’s not enough liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with a scattering of the almonds, a little parsley and a fine drizzle of olive oil.
Cook’s tip
Use sweet smoked paprika (Spanish pimentón dulce) for this recipe, but stick to the un-smoked sweet variety if you don’t like smoky flavours.
Recommended Chillies
Guindilla or any hot Cayenne variety
