AI-generated
Sopa da pedra — Portuguese bean, pork and sausage soup
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Source: https://recipheon.com/en/recipes/soups/sopa-da-pedra-portuguese-bean-pork-and-sausage-soup
About this recipe
Sopa da pedra is a Portuguese soup of beans, potatoes, pork and flavorful sausages, associated with Almeirim. This home version uses raw boneless pork shoulder, bacon, chouriço and morcela, along with already cooked red beans. The meat first simmers slowly until tender, making its own broth, which forms the base of the whole dish. The potatoes and sausages go into the pot in stages so the pieces keep their shape. Some of the beans are mashed to thicken the soup naturally. A short rest brings the flavors together, while fresh cilantro added for serving brightens the hearty soup. It makes a substantial home-cooked meal with the distinctive flavor of Portuguese sausages.
Ingredients
Meat and Portuguese sausages
400 g raw boneless, skinless pork shoulder, edible meat weight
100 g uncooked smoked bacon, not heat-treated, weighed without skin, bones or hard cartilage
150 g Portuguese smoked, cured chouriço de carne for cooking, in an edible casing; not fresh raw sausage
150 g Portuguese morcela blood sausage, heat-treated but requiring further cooking, in an edible casing
Beans, potatoes and broth
720 g cooked red beans, weighed after draining and rinsing; canned beans are suitable
600 g raw all-purpose potatoes, type B, weighed after peeling
200 g onion, weighed after peeling
10 g garlic, weighed after peeling
2 l water to have ready — 1.5 l for the broth and up to 500 ml in reserve
20 g olive oil
2 g ground sweet paprika, not smoked
2 bay leaves, about 0.4 g, to be removed
15 g fresh cilantro — 10 g for the soup and 5 g for serving
5 g fine salt to have ready for seasoning at the end
0.5 g ground black pepper
Steps
Cut the pork shoulder into cubes about 3 cm across and the bacon into cubes about 1 cm across, and finely chop the onion. Chop the garlic and cut the potatoes into pieces about 3 cm across. Drain and rinse the cooked beans; discard the liquid from the can. Remove all strings and clips from the sausages, leaving the edible casings on. Keep the chouriço and morcela whole for now.
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan of about 5 l capacity over medium-low heat. Add the bacon and onion and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring, until the bacon starts releasing fat and the onion softens. Do not drain off the fat. Add the garlic and sweet paprika and stir for about 30 seconds, without letting them burn.
Add the raw pork shoulder, bay leaves and 1.5 l water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook with the lid ajar for 45–60 minutes. Skim only the foam, without removing the fat from the broth. Add the whole chouriço and cook for about another 30 minutes. The pork shoulder should be tender when pierced with a fork; if it is still tough, simmer gently for another 15–30 minutes. Lift out the shoulder and chouriço with a slotted spoon; leave the bacon and onion in the pot. Keep all the broth and juices. Add hot water from the reserve if the liquid level drops.
Add the potatoes, whole morcela and 10 g chopped cilantro to the retained broth. Simmer gently with the lid ajar for 25–30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Do not prick the morcela and do not boil vigorously, so the casing does not split. This is its full cooking stage, not just a brief reheating. Lift out the morcela. Once the sausages have cooled slightly and can be sliced comfortably, cut the chouriço and morcela into slices about 1 cm thick.
AI-generated Set aside 200 g beans and mash them with a fork with about 200 ml hot broth drawn from the pot. Return all the puree with the remaining 520 g whole beans. Add the pork shoulder, both kinds of sliced sausage and all the juices collected on the plate. Add the pepper and cook over low heat for about another 10 minutes, stirring carefully along the bottom. The soup should be thick but still have liquid between the pieces. Use a little hot water from the reserve if needed. Do not strain anything out and do not drain off the fat.
Remove the bay leaves, turn off the heat and leave the soup covered for 10 minutes. Taste it and add only as much of the 5 g salt as needed, allowing for the salty bacon and sausages. If the soup becomes too thick, loosen it with the remaining hot water from the reserve. Divide everything into six portions, including meat, both kinds of sausage, beans and potatoes in each. Sprinkle with the remaining 5 g cilantro and serve warm.
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