A hearty Italian-inspired sausage, greens and bean soup or pasta sauce, packed with flavour and fibre. The secret? Letting a small handful of really tasty sausages do the heavy lifting on flavour, while a mountain of veg, greens and beans quietly bulk it out with gut-loving fibre.

Ingredients

6 sausages, skin removed, sliced into chunks

4 garlic cloves, crushed

4 tsp fennel seeds

2 tsp chilli flakes

2 red onions

2 carrots

3 sticks of celery

400 g chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato purée

1 Parmigiano Reggiano rind (optional but recommended)

Mixture of cannellini beans, butter beans, chickpeas

Handful of French beans (raw or cooked)

Handful of green cabbage/greens/rainbow chard, roughly shredded

Stock or water (chicken, vegetable or bean liquor from the jar)

Method

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Fry the sausages with for 5–6 minutes until golden and caramelised, add the chilli, fennel and garlic, cook for 1 minute then set aside.

2. To the same pan, add the onion, carrot and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes, then add the tomato purée and cook for another minute. Pour in the tomatoes and stock and drop in the Parmigiano rind. Season with 1 tsp sea salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Simmer for 10 mins.

3. Add the greens and beans and cook until wilted and tender.

4. Remove the Parmigiano Reggiano rind. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve as a chunky soup or toss through pasta for a hearty sauce, finished with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and grated Parmigiano.

   Note: Make it ahead, it tastes even better the next day as the flavours deepen overnight in the fridge.

   Serves 8