Day 205: core-collapsing comfort

Back in the days when my Nan used to host dinner parties (I'm talking about the ones I was lucky enough to experience during my childhood; she was doing it long before of course), she used to serve Tuscan Bean Soup as a starter. She wasn’t one for taking shortcuts, and always made things from scratch, but when she served this soup it always came from a carton. I’d normally have tomato soup (homemade) instead; I didn’t like the pebbly, grainy, floury beans in the cartoned soup - and I still don’t! Bad food experiences, especially from childhood, can put you off for life.

However, Nigella’s version in Cook Eat Repeat, the gorgeous photos of it by Jonathan Lovekin and the promise of leftovers becoming a savoury bread pudding to pile high with grated cheese and melt in the oven, are enough to convert even someone as stubborn as me into giving it a go.

Nigella’s Tuscan Bean Soup

You know those adverts on the tele or in catalogues where someone's snuggled up on the sofa, with a bowl of something gently steaming, white loungeware tucked into their thick socks, smilling like they live in a reality where white loungewear actually makes sense? Well, that's the kind of smile I ate this with! Day 205 is Nigella’s Tuscan Bean Soup. Core-collapsing, multi-carb comfort. A warm, soothing hug in a bowl.

And yes, I did smother the leftovers with grated strong cheddar cheese and bake in a hot oven for until melted and bronzed. I had some pancetta in the fridge that needed using, so I fried this in garlic oil and scattered it, and the salty, garlicky oil, over the top, before piling the cheese on.

The recipe for this can be found on pp296-99 of Cook Eat Repeat.