Sopa de pedra (stone soup)

Creator notes

I love this dish’s comforting flavors and hearty ingredients. It’s originally linked to a folktale that goes like this: A friar visited the town of Almeirim and claimed he could make soup using only a stone, and then convinced villagers to contribute ingredients, eventually creating a rich meal. Some places in Almeirim serve it with a cleaned stone as a nod to the legend!

– Jennifer Borges (@nothingssoffthetable)

Featured bean: Mayocoba

Take 'em from dried to cooked with our guide!

Ingredients

• 100 grams of touchinho (thick cut, lightly salted bacon can be subbed), leave whole
• 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2.5 liters chicken stock
• 1 cup Mayocoba beans
• ½ link Portuguese chourico, leave whole*
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced, plus more to taste
• 1 large white potato, diced into small cubes
• ½ a bunch of cilantro, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• For serving: additional chopped cilantro and rice or crusty bread

Steps

1. Fry toucinho in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium high heat in a soup pan until it slightly crisps up, remove from the pot and set aside.

2. Add chicken stock to a pot, along with chourico, Mayocoba beans, bay leaf, onion, garlic, and a few grinds of pepper.

3. Let cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes on medium heat. Check at the 45 minute mark and if you notice stock is no longer covering the ingredients, add a little bit more stock or water. Take out chourico, and set aside. Allow the beans to cook for an additional 30 minutes. At this point adjust for any seasoning of your preference (salt, pepper, garlic).

4. Once cooled, cut chourico into slices. Add in potato and cilantro for an additional 15 minutes until potato is almost tender. Add sliced chourico and chopped fried toucinho and continue cooking until beans and potato are tender.

5. Serve with additional cilantro, and rice or bread on the side.

NOTE: If Portuguese chourico is difficult to find, please do not sub-Mexican chorizo as it is not the same. You can try dry-cured Spanish chorizo or linguica (another Portuguese sausage), or alternatively andouille.