Himself is out of town doing a two-week Court Martial, so I'm eating my way through a large batch of minestrone.

Take a pound of small white beans, put them in cold salted water, and boil them until they are cooked. While that's going on, shred the leaves of a pound and a half of kale, and dice two stalks of celery, a large carrot and a large yellow onion. Mince several cloves of garlic, and cut four rashers (slices) of smoked bacon into lardons.

When the beans are tender, strain them. Take a large soup pot and fry the lardons in the bottom until they have rendered up their grease; then add the garlic, onion and celery. Cook for a while, until the onion is translucent. Add the carrots and the beans. Then pour in about half a large tin of diced tomatoes (~14 fluid ounces) and up to two litres of beef stock.

Bring all that to a boil and cook until the carrots are tender. Then add the kale, stir it down, and bring it back up to the boil. Finish with some chopped basil, rather a lot of pepper and some salt if you think it necessary.

Tomatoes and chickpeas are the only vegetables I buy in tins. Yes, I am a snob.