Three-bean and tomato soup with spinach and yoghurt

Posted on 5 November 2010

You’ll need:

1 onion, roughly sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
5 ml cayenne pepper
5 ml Hungarian paprika
100 ml olive oil
2 tins whole peeled tomatoes
(preferably Italian)
1 tin butter beans
1 tin chickpeas
1 tin sugar beans
8 ripe tomatoes, quartered, skin and all
1 bunch spinach (or morogo – African
spinach) with stems removed and
fi nely sliced
500 ml Bulgarian yoghurt
Small handful of fresh basil


The following recipe is enough for three to four friends. You can also pre-prepare this at home before you go for an easy first-night dinner.
Keep it in a cool place for travelling and keep the spinach and yoghurt separate until you serve. Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil in a deep pot until the onions become translucent. Add cayenne pepper and paprika, give a good stir and then add the tins of whole peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped
fresh tomatoes and the juice from the three tins of beans. Let this simmer on low heat until the fresh tomatoes disintegrate, then add all the beans.
Let the whole dish simmer for a further five minutes. Put a thin layer of spinach in the bottom of a soup bowl, ladle over the soup and crown
with two tablespoons of yoghurt. Flavour with freshly ground black pepper, Maldon salt and the fresh basil. Eat immediately with slices of crunchy, hot ciabatta.

*tip* For meat lovers, this vegetarian soup can easily be turned
into a meaty version by simply adding some smoked sausages
(I use bockwurst or chourico) when you add the beans.

For more recipes and outdoor cooking ideas, read Justin Bonello’s Cooked in Africa: A cooking journey through Southern Africa.

Buy the book now

Cooked in Africa: A Cooking Journey Through Southern Africa





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