I woke up the other morning with this recipe complete in my head, so truly 'dreamed up'. We have a huge glut of Runner beans this year, which has not previously happened here, so this is a way to use up lots.
I'm not giving weighed and measured ingredients as it's more for using what you have ready in the garden that day. It comes out pretty much like pea and ham soup, and tastes fairly similar but lighter.
If you have a nice smokey ham bone, then make a couple of pints of stock with it, keeping the meaty bits too. Otherwise, gently cook a few chopped rashers of bacon, add in a couple of chopped onions, a little chopped chilli, a few potatoes cut into small cubes, carrots the same, a couple of cloves of garlic, herbs to taste, a cooking apple peeled and chopped and a big pile of runner beans, destrung and chopped into 0.5cm chunks (I used about 2 or 3 lbs. Add your stock or a veg or ham stock cube or those nice jelly-type pots, with enough water to cover the veg completely, then cook away for about 45 to 60 mins, until everything is very soft. Liquidise thoroughly, bring back to the boil, adding more liquid if necessary, and serve with or without cream, and with some nice crusty bread on the side.
I think this would freeze really well for a hot reminder of summer in the depths of winter.
We love it