Olla gitana

Step 1: Bring the 8 ¼ cups water and 1 bay leaf to the boil in a large pot. Drain the 9 oz dried chickpeas and drop them into the boiling water, then simmer, partly covered, for 1–1½ hours until tender but not falling apart. Skim off any foam.

Step 2: Meanwhile, heat the 5 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the 1 oz blanched almonds, 3 cloves garlic and 1 slice of day-old bread for 2–3 minutes until golden, lift them out and pound or blend them with a ladle of the chickpea water to a rough paste.

Step 3: In the same oil cook the 1 onion for 8 minutes until soft, add the 2 ripe tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until thick, then stir in the 1 tsp sweet paprika for a few seconds off the heat. Tip this into the chickpeas.

Step 4: Add the 14 oz pumpkin, 10 ½ oz potatoes, 7 oz green beans, 1 pinch saffron threads and 2 tsp salt and simmer for 15 minutes.

Step 5: Add the 2 firm pears, the almond picada and the 4 sprigs fresh mint and simmer for 10–12 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender and some of the pumpkin has broken into the broth, making it thick and orange. A common mistake is putting the pears in with the other vegetables: they collapse into the broth and their flavour is lost.

Step 6: Take out the mint and bay, taste for salt and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving in deep bowls.