Bacon and Basil Gnocchi Soup

Served here piping hot with some fresh onion bread

A quick and easy soup to make, ideal for a filling supper, versatile too.

Bacon and Basil Gnocchi Soup

1 tsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
450g cauliflower florets
1 litre chicken stock
½ tsp mixed herbs
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp cornflour (mixed with a little of the stock)
A handful of loosely packed fresh basil leaves (about a teacup full)
225g fresh gnocchi
Swiss chard about 10 leaves, stems discarded, leaves torn into bite–size pieces
1 can haricot beans, rinsed and drained
3 rashers smoked bacon, cut into strips
Freshly grated Parmesan
Black pepper

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Sauté the garlic in the oil for about a minute. Add the cauliflower to the pan along with the chicken stock, herbs and salt. Cover the pot, bring to the boil and simmer until the cauliflower is tender. Add the cornflour mixture and stir well to incorporate, lower the heat and continue to stir until the stock thickens.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the basil.
Using a hand blender pureé the soup until smooth. Season with pepper.
Put the [an back on a low simmer, add the beans and greens.
While the beans are heating and the greens are wilting, cook the gnocchi according to the instructions and fry the bacon pieces on a high heat til they are well browned, drain on some kitchen roll.
When the greens are cooked stir in the gnocchi and serve in large, flat soup bowls. Add the bacon in a pile in the middle of the soup and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Serve hot with warm crusty bread.

This soup was delicious, pungent with basil which contrasted with the smoky, salty bacon. Lots of texture from the greens and beans and squishy gnocchi, hearty, healthy and wholesale.

There are lots of ways you can adapt the soup, make it vegetarian by omitting the bacon, try some crispy seaweed on top instead. Instead of thickening with cornflour, add a couple of peeled chopped potatoes. Substitute the gnocci for some pasta shells. If you don't have chard, try kale or spinach or even some savoy cabbage. If you don't have haricot beans try using butter beans as an alternative. Try adding some texture by sprinkling with toasted almonds, cashews or pine nuts.