Harvest Soup by Donal Skehan

It may seem unusual to add oats to soup, but trust me, it works!

Serves 4|Takes 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 sprigs thyme
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 carrot, sliced
1.5 litres vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
450 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 400g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
100g Flahavan’s Jumbo Oats
50g cavolo nero (Tuscan kale), hard stalks removed and roughly chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD:

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan over a low heat. Add onion, celery and thyme and sauté for 4-5 minutes until softened without colour. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of oil into the pan along with the garlic and carrot toss to coat in the oil and sauté for another 4-5 minutes until they have a little colour.

Add the stock to the pan along with the bay leaf and potatoes, bring to the boil, reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are fully cooked, remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Stir through the butter beans and oats and continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes until the beans have heated through, add the cavolo nero, and stir through, until it has wilted. Season to taste.

Remove from the heat and serve in deep bowls.

Donal’s Tip

“The trick to this soup is to get a really good quality vegetable stock and use vegetables that are in season, they taste so much better. It may seem unusual to add oats to soup, but trust me, it works, they only need a minute or two at the end to soak up a little of that tasty stock but they add a lovely flavour and texture to the finished dish.”