Tomato, 3 Bean and Spinach Soup

I thought I would share one of my favourite winter warmer recipes, it is that time of the year, yes you know, the time where by 2pm you are sitting inside round a cosy fire with friends and family close by - why not cook em' up something spicy to warm them from the inside.

What You'll Need:

2 sliced onions
2 chopped up cloves garlic (LARGE)
1 whole head of garlic
Blob of Butter
4 or 5 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 level teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
1 level teaspoon of Paprika
2 tins of whole peeled tomatoes
8 washed ripe tomatoes roughly chopped up (skin n' all)
1 tin of Chick Peas
1 tin of Butter Beans
1 tin of Speckled Sugar Beans
6 or 7 spinach leaves with the white bitter tasting vein cut out, rolled up and shredded
Finely grated Pecorino cheese
Couple of fresh sweet basil leaves ( roughly broken up)
Toasted slices of Ciabatta
Plain Yogurt

How to Make It:
In a deep pot, saute everything up to and including the Paprika until the onions go soft and translucent. Then throw in the 2 tins of whole peeled tomatoes, the roughly chopped fresh tomatoes and the juice from the 3 tins of beans. Let it all simmer until the fresh tomatoes disintegrate into small chunks and the skins curl off (probably 20 or so minutes with an occasional stir)
Then add the Chick Peas. Simmer for a further 5 minutes, then add the Butter Beans and the Speckled Sugar beans (I add these last as they are quite soft and I don't want them to become all mushy and disappear.) Simmer for further 5 minutes and switch off the gas.

How to Eat it:
In the bottom of your soup bowls put a layer of the shredded spinach then ladle over the hot soup, making sure to you get all the goodies at the bottom of the pot. Splash a blob of yogurt in the middle (this dish gets spicy) Sprinkle the freshly chopped basil and Pecorino cheese over the top. Break apart the head of garlic and squeeze cloves onto the Ciabatta. Serve
Enough for 6 to 8 depending on how hungry everyone is.

For more awesome recipe ideas go to Justin Bonello's website: http://www.cookedinafrica.com