This is my go-to recipe when I need to feed a bunch of friends something warming, hearty and filling. Also it is easy, almost impossible to get wrong and the flavours taste even better the next day so it’s perfect as a make-ahead dish!

My basic ingredients are chorizo sausage, onions, garlic, paprika, cayenne and some type of bean. You can add so many further ingredients to bulk it out as well as any sort of bean (kidney, butter, black bean). Sometimes I add spinach and roasted aubergine to make it more like a stew, other times I leave it as it is and just serve it as a soup with a hunk of chunky bread!

This weekend about 8 friends are coming for lunch after a countryside walk.  So I need to make something that I know as soon as I walk back into the house will be ready within minutes. I will buy fresh bread from the bakery before we go and then heat the soup up on our return letting everyone help themselves to drinks. No need to lay the table, just put your large pot of soup with sliced up fresh bread on the table and ladle out and top with parsley and tell everyone to get stuck in. Afterwards I can guarantee they will want this recipe!

Ingredients:
(Serves 8 people – this soup freezes well if you don’t want to be left with such a large portion)

2 Chorizo sausages
2 large or 3 small white onions finally chopped
Tsp smoked paprika
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
Tsp cayenne
800g tinned tomatos
Parsley for garnish
2 chicken stock cubes
400-500ml boiling water

Chop up your chorizo into chunks and put into a non stick dry frying pan on a gentle heat and allow the chorizo to gently cook till it has let out some of the oil. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon leaving the oils and place in your garlic and onions and sweat down till soft.

Add back into the pan your chorizo and paprika and cayenne and stir for a few moments before adding in the chopped tomatoes.

Make your stock with the water and add two thirds to your pan. Allow to bubble gently for about 30 minutes, adding more of your pre-made stock if reducing a little too much.

Add beans for the last 5 minutes till heated through. This does taste best the day after as the flavours definitely get better with time. As mentioned above, this soup can take lots of additions and it can go from a tomato, chorizo soup to a proper meal that you could even serve with brown rice.