SOUP

Soup. It's what everybody's talking about this summer. Soup, soup, soup. The World Cup will pale into insignificance once the soup craze really takes off. And, being the hep cats you all are, you will want to be armed with recipes when someone really cool (such people are regularly to be found in the Pineapple pub in Kentish Town; they are uniformly dreadful, of course) asks you how you prepare your favourite soup.

Here goes:



BUTTER BEAN SOUP WITH THYME

Peel, halve and finely a large onion. Pour oil into a medium-sized saucepan and add the onion. Cook briskly, stirring every so often, for about six minutes until the onion is slippery and beginning to colour.

Meanwhile, peel and finely chop two cloves of garlic. Peel and chop a large potato into small dice, rinse and shake dry.

Stir the garlic into the onion and a couple of minutes later, increase the heat slightly and add the potato. Season with salt and plenty of pepper. Add a tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme and half a teaspoon of curry powder, stir well then add 600ml of chicken stock.

Tip a can of butter beans into a colander to drain and rinse with cold water. Shake dry and add to the pan. Bring the soup to the boil, then turn it down so it simmers, half-cover the pan and cook for about 15 minutes until the potato is tender.

Pour the soup a bit at a time into a blender and blitz until smooth. Pour back into the saucepan, stir in a dollop of mustard and a squeeze of lemon juice. Melt a smallish piece of butter in and season again.

Serve straight away with garlic bread, plenty of chilled rose, and (if you're a real greedyguts) follow with a toasted bacon sandwich.

Taken from Lindsey Bareham's wunnerful "A Wolf in the Kitchen" recipe book.