Caldo Gallego de Yaz

Description

Procedure:

1. Rinse/soak beans briefly and pick damaged beans and toss them. Drain.
2. Place dried beans, smoked pork hocks, 1 onion cut in quarters, bay leaves, homemade sofrito, cilantro, and calabaza/jamón cube in an instant pot or pressure cooker with 8 cups of water. Mix everything well by stirring
3. Set the instant pot or pressure cooker on high pressure and cook for 35 minutes.
4. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, make the Spanish sofrito. Over medium heat, sauté two diced yellow onions and finely minced garlic with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon of salt for 5-7 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add chorizos and paprika and cook for 5 more minutes. Keep on low heat until the pressure cooker is done.
5. After 35 minutes of pressure cooking, do rapid release of pressure. Open it and carefully pull out the ham hocks into a separate plate/bowl, remove fat and bones, and shred. Strain the liquid into a big mixing bowl and reserve the cooking liquid for later use. Should have at least 4 cups. Toss the bay leaves.
6. Add the potatoes, shredded ham, and beans  to the soup pot with the chorizo/onion mixture along with 4 cups of cooking liquid. Add 2 cups of water. Place this over high heat until it comes to a boil, then drop the heat to low/simmer and let potatoes cook for 13 minutes or until soft. Once they’re cooked through and some of the liquid has evaporated, you should see that the soup has a nice and creamy texture.
7. After the potatoes are cooked/13 minutes, add the chopped kale and let it cook for 7 minutes over low heat.
8. Add 1-1 1/2 tablespoons of sea salt, to taste. Buen provecho!