A late summer favorite of our family's. Cured pork, and green beans fresh from the gardens in our neighborhood. It just encapsulates late summer. We waited for a rainy late summer day, when it wasn't too hot, to make the soup. It's a classic for a reason.
Ingredients
- 250 g (8 oz) fresh shelled white beans, or 60 g (2 oz) dried
- 250 g (8 oz) fresh shelled peas, or 60 g (2 oz) dried split peas
- 2 kg (4 1/2 lb) smoked or salted pork shoulder or shank, in one piece
- 250 g (1/2 lb) piece of bacon
- 1 large cabbage
- 45 g (3 tbsp) lard or oil
- 350 g (3/4 lb) carrots, quartered
- 2 to 3 turnips, quartered
- 1 large onion, studded with 1 clove
- 1 bouquet garni, with 1 clove garlic
- 1 cervelas (or other boiling sausage), about 500 g (1 lb)
- 750 g (1 1/2 lb) potatoes, quartered
- 250 g (1/2 lb) green beans
- 3 to 4 slices bread, toasted and diced
- Salt and pepper
- Dijon mustard, to serve
Method
- If using dried beans and split peas, soak them overnight and drain. Salt pork may also need an overnight soak in a few changes of cold water; freshly salted or smoked pork doesn't.
- Cover the pork and bacon with cold water, bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. If the water tastes very salty, drain and start over with fresh water. Cut the rind off the bacon and keep it.
- Trim the cabbage, cut out the core and boil it whole in lightly salted water for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water, drain well and cut into 6 pieces.
- Melt the lard in a large pot over medium heat. Add the bacon rind, pork, bacon, carrots, turnips, onion and bouquet garni, plus the dried beans and peas if using. Cover with water and bring just to a boil. Season with pepper but no salt. Cover and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours.
- Prick the sausage and add it with the cabbage, potatoes and green beans, plus the fresh beans and peas if using. Cover and simmer about 1 hour more, until the meat and vegetables are very tender. Taste the broth for salt.
- Lift out the meat and drain the vegetables, keeping the broth. Dice a few of the vegetables and keep the rest warm with the meat. Reduce the broth if it needs more flavor, then add the diced vegetables.
- First course: put the toasted bread in a tureen and pour the broth over it.
- Second course: slice the sausage, pork and bacon onto a platter with the vegetables around it. Serve with Dijon mustard.
- Leftovers are good cold with a vinaigrette.