New Year, New Soup: Patatas Bravas

Happy New Year to you all! Hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Years Eve? Rich and I went to Berlin, and got engaged so that was very exciting and unexpected we are very happy and look forward to sharing the celebrations with friends, there will be a food travel blog post on Berlin at some point this month, so am looking forward to sharing that with you. This month is always notoriously frugal so once we returned from Germany I went to Reg the Veg in Clifton village and bought up a stack of soup making vegetables. I had two soups in mind for this week, spicy squash, red pepper and coconut and last night's soup of patatas bravas.

A favourite on the tapas scene I was keen to try and recreate the taste of this dish in a soup, inspired by one of mum's gifts to Rich, some gorgeous Pimentón de la Vera as part of a Christmas present, I was determined it's first use would be a tasty one. Plus the packaging is right up my street and very kitsch but the wonderful smoky sweet smell that rises from the open tin is heavenly. 

Pimenton

Some of Reg the Veg's wares

I used the following ingredients:

1 small onion

1 crushed clove of garlic

2 large potatoes chopped into cubes

1 pepper chopped into pieces

Half a ring of chorizo chopped into bits

2-3 chargrilled peppers from a jar chopped finely

2-3 beef tomatoes chopped small

A good squeeze of tomato puree

2-3 teaspoons of pimenton

1 and a half pints of chicken stock

A good helping of chilli flakes, a pinch of cumin plus healthy shakes of salt and pepper

So I chopped a small onion, and two inches of the chorizo ring and let that sizzle away with the chilli flakes, I then added all the vegetables, puree, spices and then the stock. I let this cook happily away with the lid on for about an hour and then let it cool whilst I went to pilates class. When I returned I used my hand blender to blitz the soup into a puree then I added some more chopped chorizo whilst I heated it up to serve with some crusty bread. It was very easy indeed and I was glad that it tasted just like patatas bravas, it fed me for  lunch today and will tomorrow as well. 

Today's lunch

Close up, with crackers topped with brie and caramelised onion chutney

Next blog posts will include our review of lunch from peri peri chicken place Roosters on Park Street and meat filled German meals. But in the mean time enjoy this recipe and thanks for all the congratulations we've received on Twitter so far. 

Boom!