← Nouns Cooking · Brazilian & Peruvian

Ingredients

• 100 g smoked bacon, diced (optional)
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 Carrot, finely diced
• 1 celery stick, finely diced
• 3 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 3 cans black beans (400 g tins), with their liquid
• 1 l vegetable stock
• 200 g chopped tomatoes
• 1 Bay leaves
• 100 g small pasta (ditalini or broken spaghetti)
• 1 handful coriander or parsley, chopped
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. If using bacon, fry it in the oil in a large pot over medium heat for 5 min, until crisp.
2. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook over medium heat for 6–8 min, until soft. Stir in the garlic for 1 minute.
3. Tip in the beans with their liquid, the stock, tomatoes and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 min.
4. Remove the bay leaf and blend about half the soup with a stick blender, leaving plenty of whole beans, so it turns thick and creamy.
5. Add the pasta and simmer for 10–12 min, stirring often, until tender. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick, then season and stir in the herbs.

Tips

• Leave out the bacon to keep it vegan; with bacon it is no longer vegetarian.
• Brazilians often make this with leftover feijão from the day before; use about 800 g of cooked beans with their broth.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Easy and Delish Brazilian Kitchen Abroad