Smoked Pork Hock and Vegetable Soup

INGREDIENTS

• 1 kg smoked pork hock (purchase here)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 5 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 large bulb of fennel, sliced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and diced into chunks
• 1/2 bunch celery, diced into chunks
• 1 large celeriac, diced into chunks
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (optional)
• 2 litres chicken stock
• 400g can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
• Crusty bread, to serve (Or Gluten free alternative)

METHOD

1. Place pork hock in large bowl and pour boiling water over the hock, drain and set aside
2. In a large pot, add oil and cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, or until onion is transparent.
3. Add all other vegetables to the pot and cook for a further 5 minutes or so, until slightly softened. Stir in the tomato paste.
4. In a separate frying pan, add fennel seeds and on low heat dry fry them for about 5 minutes. Do not let them burn.
5. Add pork hock, fennel seeds, chilli and stock to pot and bring up to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and allow soup to cook for about 2 – 2 1/2 hours. Top up with more stock or water as needed but not so much to dilute the flavour of the soup.
6. When pork hock meat is very tender, remove hock from pot, remove the meat from the pot and shred into large chunks. Return the meat to the pot with the beans and season with salt and more chilli if desired. Serve with crusty bread.