Hearty Broth with Zingy Slaw

Method

1. Soak the broth mix overnight in a large bowl with a couple of litres of water.
2. Take a really large saucepan and begin by gently frying the onion, carrot and celery for about 15 minutes until soft and sweet.
3. Meanwhile soak the mushrooms in boiling water for 5 minutes and then dice finely.
4. Strain the soaked broth mixture.
5. Add the mushrooms, squash, salt and rosemary to the pan and stir around over the heat for a couple of minutes.
6. Tip in the broth mix with 2 litres of water, bring up to the boil, cover and simmer for 45- 60, until the pulses have softened ( timings will depend on how hard your water is).
7. Add the tomato purée (don’t be tempted to add earlier as the acidity will slow down the cooking of the pulses). If freezing some of the soup this is the moment to stop ( don’t worry about balancing the seasoning, you can do that once you are about to serve it).
8. Before serving, reheat the broth and once simmering add the greens, cooking for a couple of minutes, just enough to wilt them. Stir in the Umami paste and a good grinding of black pepper, taste; you may still need a little salt but don’t worry about acidity as the slaw will deal with that.
9. (Adding the Umami paste at the last minute, when the broth is hot but not boiling will ensure that you don’t bump off the precious live bacteria)

For the Slaw - best made while the broth is simmering

1. Mix together the mustard, syrup, cider vinegar and olive oil.
2. Cut the apple and turnip into fine matchsticks and turn them in the mustard dressing. Season with salt and pepper. You want a really assertive sweet and sour, crunchy slaw to contrast with the comforting broth.
3. Serve the slaw spooned on top of the broth and accompany with good, country bread.