Rich Man'S Poor Man'S Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

10 tablespoons oil
100 g pancetta
2 onions
2 carrots
4 garlic cloves
1 bunch parsley
250 g borlotti beans
250 g tomatoes
500 ml chicken stock
1/2 savoy cabbage
250 g bread
1 piece parmesan cheese

Preparation

Heat half the oil in a large wide, pan.
Once hot (but not smoking) add the (optional) pancetta, followed a couple of minutes later by the onion, carrot, garlic, and parsley. Give it a good stir.
Put a lid on it and cook slowly for 20-30 minutes, stirring regularly.
Tip half the beans in with the veggies and mash the other half with a potato masher before stirring them in too.
Pour in the tinned tomatoes and the stock, and chuck in any old rind of Parmesan (it's wise to keep these, as they are a great source of flavour).
When the soup has come to the boil, stir in the roughly chopped cabbage leaves and turn down to the lowest heat.
Season well, stir in the chunks of bread and put the lid back on the pan. Don't play with it too much, as you want nice chunks of bread.
After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, pour in another healthy glug of olive oil and let it sit with the lid on for a good 5 minutes before serving with yet more oil and some grated Parmesan.