Black Bean Soup With Cumin

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Black Bean Soup With Cumin

 

2 cups dried black beans, washed, picked over

8 cups water

1/4 cup olive oil

2 large onions, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced or pureed

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 large stemmed jalapeno chile, seeded, if desired finely chopped

2 teaspoons salt

6 cups vegetable stock

 

Garnish (optional):

1 1/2 cups salsa

1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

 

In a large saucepan over high heat, place the water and black beans.

Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the beans are

soft, about 1 hour.

Remove from the heat.

In another large saucepan or stockpot, heat the olive oil or butter over medium

low heat.

Cook the onions until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin,

jalapeno and salt and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic's aroma is

released, 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in the black beans and their liquid and mix well. Pour in the vegetable

stock. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook

uncovered, stirring occasionally, an additional 30 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a blender in batches and puree until smooth, pulsing the

machine on and off until it begins to liquefy. Ladle the hot soup into bowls and

garnish each serving with a generous tablespoonful of Salsa and sour cream.