Cabbage, Bacon And Sausage Soup.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

big pinch of salt

1/2 pound potatoes, skin on, cut 1/4-inch pieces

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

5 cups stock or water

1 1/2 cups white beans, steeped overnight

1/2 medium cabbage, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons
3 large carrots peeled and sliced
A couple of rashers of streaky bacon cut into two or four pieces.
More good-quality extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Warm the olive oil and the bacon pieces in a large thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion and cabbage. Cover and cook until they are a bit tender, about 5 minutes - it's o.k. to uncover to stir a couple times. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute or two then add the cabbage. Add the stock, the beans and the sliced sausage. Bring the pot to a simmer. Finally add the potatoes and allow to cook. Adjust the seasoning - getting the seasoning right is important or your soup will taste flat and uninteresting. Taste and add more salt if needed, the amount of salt you will need to add will depend on how salty your stock is (varying widely between brands, homemade, etc)...
Serve drizzled with a bit of olive oil and a generous dusting of cheese.