Three-Pork Soup

A light version of Spain’s famous caldo gallego, this still makes a terrific one-pot meal. You can prepare the soup entirely in advance, but don’t let it sit for more than a few hours or the potatoes will begin to disintegrate.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 pound salt pork or bacon, diced

1/4 pound ham, preferably Serrano or prosciutto, with some of its fat, diced

1/2 pound potatoes (any kind), peeled and cubed 1 onion, sliced

1/4 pound turnips, peeled and diced

6 cups beef or chicken stock or water

1/2 pound smoked chorizo sausage, peeled and sliced

1 small head cabbage, preferably Savoy, cored and shredded

1 cup cooked and drained large white beans, like cannellini, lima, or gigante if you can find them

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Put the oil in a large, deep pot over medium-high heat. When hot, add the pork and ham and cook until brown, about 5 minutes.
• Add the potatoes, onion, turnips, and stock; simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
• Then add the chorizo, cabbage, and beans and cook just until the chorizo is heated through and the greens are soft, 10 to 20 minutes more. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Three Pork Soup, Southern Style.
• Substitute 2 ham hocks for the ham, mild smoked sausage for the chorizo, and 1 pound collard or kale greens for the cabbage.
• After cooking the potatoes in Step 2, fish out the ham hocks, take all the meat off the bones, chop it, and return it to the pot. For the greens, remove and discard any stems over 1/4 inch thick; chop the stems and the leaves; add with the sausage in Step 2.

MAKES: 4 main-dish or 6 starter servings TIME: 1 1/2 hours, largely unattended