Italian broth.

A lovely, soft and velvety Italian style broth - great to eat as a snack or part of a main meal - with lots of crusty buttered bread.

Now, the Italians, I'm sure, would used quite a bit of swine in something like this. Lardons for the base and pork sausages for the meaty part. Obviously, my shizzle needs to be Halal...so I've chosen a halal beef and chicken salami sausage, which can be bought from most continental food stores now. 

Fried, and it gives off a lovely fatty oil and also crisps up nicely. Or just use conventional bits of fatty lamb or chicken thighs.

Here's what you'll need to feed 3-4:

1 large onion; 1 small red pepper; 1/2 tin pinto/Canaloni beans; 1/2 kidney beans; 

1 tin chopped quality tomatoes; 2 cloves garlic; the meat (or veg) of your choice; 1 chilli; a handful of fresh spinach; 1/2 pint boiling chicken/veg stock; a handful of basmati rice; salt, pepper to taste and a pinch of the following spices: ground cumin and coriander; cayenne pepper and 1/2 tsp of dried oregano and basil (or use fresh) 

Method:

In a medium sized pan - fry off your garlic, chilli, onions and red pepper gently in some olive oil. Nothing worse than burn garlic in your dinner!  Dice the sausage/salami up (or whatever you're using) and fry until fat is released and edges start browning. Sprinkle in your dry seasonings.

Add the stock and let it bubble all the nice sticky bits off the bottom of the pan. Add your beans, a tin of tomatoes, the rice and let it cook for 20mins. Wilt in your spinach 5 mins before switching it off. The handful of rice should be puffy and noticeable in the pan and the oils should have risen to the top. 

Serve as a starter or with some nice Chunky bits of buttered bread.