Recipe of the month: Tuscan Bread Soup

Top up on nourishment and community spirit with a visit to our friendly market during the winter months. Seasonal veg nurtured in Cornish soils is in healthy supply, as is an invigorating haul of store cupboard staples – sauces, marinades, pickles and preserves – to inspire creativity in the kitchen on those dark evenings.

In this month’s seasonal recipe, we used leftovers from a Cornish Mill and Bakehouse Rye Bloomer to make a hearty winter soup, along with Russian Kale from Goonown Growers, but you could easily vary the bread and veg depending on what you have to hand.

A little background heat from the dried chillies provides an added layer of comfort in this simple but sustaining soup, and we like to add a spoonful of sauerkraut, curtido or kimchi courtesy of Delea Fermented Foods for added goodness in the winter months.

This recipe makes a big batch, which you can freeze down in portions for weekday lunches.

Ingredients ~ Feeds 6+

300g bread

2 tins tomatoes

1 ltr chicken or veg stock

5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

1 sprig of rosemary, stripped from the stalk

1 dried chilli, finely chopped

A large handful of Russian Kale

Cornish Sea Salt

Olive Oil

Black Pepper

Extra Mature Cornish Gouda (or alternative) to garnish

A spoonful of sauerkraut, kimchi or curtido (optional)

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Method

1. Fry the garlic and rosemary in the olive oil on a low heat until a light brown.
2. Add the chopped chilli and tomatoes and cook out for 5 mins before adding the stock.
3. Bring to a boil and season liberally with salt and pepper, then tear off medium-sized chunks of the bread and cook for 25 mins on medium heat until the bread breaks down.
4. Strip the kale from the stalks and scatter over the soup as it cooks, stirring through for a minute or so. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a fine grating of Extra Mature Gouda or your favourite hard cheese, and a spoonful of sauerkraut for added goodness.