Bob chorba: Bulgarian white bean soup
The Bulgarian classic: dried white beans cooked until creamy with onion, carrot, red pepper and tomato, finished with spearmint and summer savory. Vegan, serves 6.
Ingredients
- 400 g dried white beans about 2 cups
- 2 medium onions about 200 g, finely chopped
- 2 carrots about 150 g, diced
- 1 red bell pepper about 150 g, diced
- 2 ripe tomatoes about 250 g, grated, or 250 g canned chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste 16 g
- 4 tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil 54 g
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tbsp dried spearmint in Bulgarian, djodjen
- 1 tsp dried summer savory chubritsa
- 1 1/2 tsp fine salt 8 g
- 1 small dried hot chilli optional
- A small bunch of parsley about 15 g, chopped
- About 2.5 litres water
Instructions
- The night before, cover the beans with plenty of cold water and leave them to soak for 8-12 hours. Drain and rinse.
- Put the beans in a large pot, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain, as many Bulgarian cooks do, and cover the beans with about 2.5 litres of fresh hot water.
- Simmer gently, partly covered, for 60-90 minutes, until the beans are soft and creamy all the way through. The time depends on the variety and how old the beans are. Top up with hot water if they peek above the surface.
- About 20 minutes before the beans are ready, warm the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, pepper and a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes, stirring, until soft. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the paprika (it burns quickly), then add the tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes more.
- When the beans are soft, tip the vegetables into the pot. Add the salt, spearmint, savory and the chilli, if using. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, until the broth thickens a little.
- Take the pot off the heat, stir in the parsley and let it rest for 10 minutes. Serve hot with bread and, the Bulgarian way, a few pickled peppers on the side.