Paperclip Gill's Hearty Winter Soup with Orzo Gill's Hearty Winter Soup with Orzo

Cooking

21 / 02 / 2025

Gill's Hearty Winter Soup with Orzo

Gill Meller

Gill Meller

Chef, Food Writer & Author

This is so much more than a soup. It’s a whole feast in a bowl, a giant winter warmer, a nourishing, healthy pan of goodness that will stoke a fire in even the coldest gardeners. You can customise it to your hearts content. If you want to keep it all about the veg, leave the bacon lardons out and add a touch of smoked paprika instead.

Serves 6–8

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
150g of smoked bacon lardons
1 large or 2 smaller onions, chopped
2 or 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 4 - 5mm (1⁄4in) cubes
1 leek washed and thinly sliced into rounds
4 – 5 tender celery sticks, sliced
1 small bulb of garlic halved
4 – 5 sprigs of thyme
A good pinch of chilli flakes
1 x 400g tin good-quality chopped plum tomatoes
2 litres vegetable stock or water
1 x 700g jar of haricot beans, (I like bold beans)
100g Orzo
1 bunch of kale, chard or spinach, tougher stalks removed and leaves roughly chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Your best olive oil to finish

Method

Heat a large heavy-based pan over a medium heat and add the olive oil. When it’s hot, add bacon lardons and sizzle them for 3 – 4 minutes, stirring now and again.

Scatter in the diced onion, celery, carrots and leeks and give it all a really good stir. Season with salt and pepper. Cook gently, stirring regularly, until the vegetables begin to soften and smell sweet, about 10 minutes. Adjust the heat if you need to so that the vegetables don’t colour.

Halve the garlic and just add it to the pan like that, no messing about. Chuck in the stems of thyme, followed by the tinned tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 - 10 minutes, then add the vegetable stock (or water) and bring to a simmer. Allow the soup to cook gently for about 15 minutes, then add the jarred beans and the Orzo pasta, stirring well.

Return the pan to a simmer and cook for a further 5 minutes, then add the kale, and stir well. Give the soup a final 5 – 8 minutes cooking, until all the vegetables are tender. If at any point it is looking too thick, add some water. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

I like to take the pan off the heat and let the soup stand at this point, I think it benefits from 15–20 minutes just being, before you ladle it into bowls and serve trickled with plenty of your best olive oil.

Don’t worry if you don’t eat it all in one sitting. This soup (and others like it) can taste even better the following day.

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