Chilli Chocolate Bean Soup

Posted 2014-12-16 by Lindsay Law ⇒ follow

This recipe is an adaptation of one by A Girl Called Jack. She is a food writer from the UK who brilliantly blogs about food and poverty. I’ve changed the beans and the type of stock. I think it gives it a better depth of flavour to use beef stock and goes very well with the chocolatey and smokey layers of flavour. You can get the same effect with a spoonful of Vegemite or Marmite and vegetable stock.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients
1tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions
1 clove garlic
1 carrot
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
50ml red wine
400g tin chopped tomatoes
4 squares of chocolate (at least 70% cocoa content)
Beef or vegetable stock cube
400ml water
400g tin of chilli style beans

Method

Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan.

Chop the onion and tip into the pan. Cook gently for a few minutes.

Finely chop or crush the garlic and add it to the pan with the onion. Cook for another couple of minutes.

Slice the carrots into a fine dice and add them to the pan.

Add the spices to the pan and cook for a few more minutes.

Turn the heat up and add the red wine. Deglaze the pan of any darker onion bits and reduce the red wine so the alcohol burns off and the flavours are released.

Open the tin of tomatos and add them to the pan. I was using whole plum tomatoes, instead of the chopped ones, so I had to chop mine up with scissors (it's the easiest way!) before I put them in the pan.

Add the squares of chocolate and let them melt.

Crumble the stock cube into the pan and then add about 400ml boiling water. I don't bother to measure it in a jug, I just refill the tomato tin and use that as a rough measure. It means I get all the juices and none go to waste. If you are doing that you will need a cloth to hold the tin, or use boiled water that has cooled slightly.