Cuban Caldo Gallego Recipe Cuban Bean Soup

CALDO GALLEGO

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in the hot oil until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Stir chorizo and ham into onion mixture and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Mix potatoes and turnips into chorizo mixture; pour in chicken stock. Bring stock to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover stockpot, and simmer until potatoes and turnips are tender, about 20 minutes.
• Increase heat to medium and stir cannellini beans and turnip greens into soup; cook until greens are desired tenderness, at least 3 minutes.

CALDO GALLEGO

Steps:

• In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and add the ham hock, onions, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until slits of ham hock have begun to open and vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon of the salt, pepper, to taste, and paprika and cook for 1 minute longer. Add 9 cups of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. Drain the white beans and add them to the pot. Return to a simmer and continue to cook at a simmer until beans are just beginning to get tender, about 1 hour longer. Remove the ham hock and, when cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the hock and shred into bite size pieces. (Discard skin and bones.) Return the meat to the pot along with the remaining salt (or to taste), potatoes, turnip greens, and chorizo and continue to cook until beans have broken down slightly, potatoes and greens are very tender, about 1 hour longer. Remove the bay leaf and serve hot.
• Note: you may have to add a bit more water if the soup gets too thick during the lengthy cooking time.

CALDO GALLEGO ESTILO CUBANO - GALICIAN SOUP CUBAN STYLE

Steps:

• Place all ingredients; the beans with their soaking liquid, the chorizo, ham, pork fat or bacon, ham hock (if using), onion, garlic, green peppers, tomato sauce, olive oil, in a 6-quart pot, cover with broth and water.
• Cover the pot and simmer slowly for 30 minutes. Add seasonings and simmer for about 1-1/2-2 more hours, until the beans are almost tender.
• Skim the froth and scum that comes to the top.
• Season to taste.
• Add the potatoes, turnips and collard greens, and simmer 15 minutes longer, until all vegetables are soft.
• Season with salt, pepper, and Sazon Completo & Sazon con Azafran to taste.
• Serve in deep soup bowls with a side of white fluffy rice (a necessity for Cubans), with sliced avocados, and tomatoes, with a vinaigrette dressing, a warm loaf of Cuban (pan de flauta) bread or French baguette or even with a Focaccia.
• Buen provecho!

CALDO GALLEGO ( GALICIAN WHITE BEAN SOUP) ( PORTUGUESE)

Steps:

• Soak the beans in water overnight.
• Blanch the salt pork or bacon by putting it into cold water, bring to boil, and then drain. Cube into dice.
• In a large kettle put the drained white beans, the two quarts cold water. the ham, the diced salt pork, cover and simmer two hours.
• Add the turnips, turnip greens, potato, sausage, and seasoning of salt and pepper.
• Cover and cook 1/2 hour or until the vegetables, and beans are tender.
• Cut sausage into slices replace them back into the soup and taste again for seasoning.
• Serve.
• Serrano ham is a raw smoked ham similar to prosciutto, it is sometimes hard to find, use large chunks of smithfield ham if you can't find either.