Cheap, simple, easy and tasty soup, what could be better? Soak a 300g bag of butter beans over night. Rinse in freshwater a couple of times. Put in a large pan and boil, add a little oil to control the massive foam, for say five minutes. Discard water and rinse beans thoroughly, to get rid of the sulphur preservative. Put back on more moderate heat with fresh water bring to the simmer. Add one large peeled onion, three large peeled carrots left whole, a stick of celery and a clove of garlic.
After forty minutes check the beans are just tender, may take a little longer if they are old. Discard onion, celery and garlic, gently set carrots aside. Drain liquor off the beans and retain. Pick over the beans for the firm whole ones setting them aside. Liquidise the broken soft beans with say quarter pint of liquor.
Meanwhile in a pint of a rich stock, I used pheasant but duck would be good or even chicken, boil about half pound of celeriac peeled and cut into rough small chunks. When cooked, liquidise.
In a clean pan put the carrots, cut in half or quarters along their length, depending on size, and then cut into slices sat 5mm thick. Add about equal portions of the whole butter beans, say half, the strained liquidised stock and celeriac and then the strained liquidised butter bean and liquor. Gently stir and add more liquor to adjust thickness. A creamy loose soup with a good portion of beans and carrots is the goal. Bring back to heat slowly, stir occasionally, adjust seasoning to taste and serve.
Delicious. Sweet, creamy and rich flavoured. For those not needing to avoid, it cries out for two Tblspn of cream stirred in to lighten the colour. Garnish with four or five thin chillie rings barely softened in hazelnut oil with a couple of drops of the oil.
