Turkish Kale Soup (Kara Lahana Çorbası) with Allotment Cavolo Nero

Our allotment kale is thriving this season, and while cavolo nero is often sautéed with garlic or stirred into pasta, I wanted to make something different — a warming soup that celebrates this beautiful green.

Cavolo nero is very similar to kara lahana (literally “black cabbage”), a staple of Turkey’s Black Sea region. In towns like Rize and Trabzon, kara lahana çorbası (Turkish kale soup) is a classic dish: hearty, nourishing, and designed to sustain families through long winters. Traditionally, the soup is built on a lamb bone stock, thickened with cornmeal, and often enriched with beans or bulgur.

When I looked through my cookbooks, I found Musa Dağdeviren’s recipe in The Turkish Cookbook. His version uses lamb bones, which give the broth a deep flavour, but I felt it might be a little too dominant for our taste. Instead, I adapted the recipe by using just a bit of lamb mince. It still gives a lovely richness, but lets the kale remain the star of the bowl.

The result is a Black Sea–inspired kale soup that feels both traditional and personal: earthy greens, a light savoury depth, and a warming comfort perfect for cooler days. It’s also a wonderful way to enjoy our allotment cavolo nero without falling into the same routine dishes.

Recipe: Turkish Kale Soup (Kara Lahana Çorbası)

Ingredients

60 g beans (soaked overnight)

60 g hominy corn (soaked overnight)

40 g butter

60 g lamb mince

1 small onion

1 tbsp tomato paste

6 cavolo nero leaves

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pul biber (Aleppo pepper)

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Cook the beans and hominy corn in 2 cups of water for 50 minutes.

2. Towards the end of the cooking time, sauté the onion and lamb mince in the butter for about 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes more.

4. Add the beans with their cooking liquid, then pour in 2 more cups of water. Season with salt, pul biber, and black pepper. Bring to a boil.

5. Add the cavolo nero leaves, bring back to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes until the greens are cooked.

Serve warm and enjoy a comforting taste of the Black Sea with allotment-fresh kale.

What is Hominy Corn?

Hominy corn is dried maize kernels that have been treated to remove their outer hull, giving them a chewy texture and nutty flavour. It’s a staple ingredient in many cuisines — from the Black Sea region of Turkey, where it appears in kara lahana çorbası, to Latin America, where it’s used in dishes like pozole.

You can usually find hominy corn in Turkish, Middle Eastern, or Latin American food shops, and sometimes in well-stocked international aisles of larger supermarkets.

If you can’t find hominy corn, you can substitute it with:

Pearl barley – for a similar chew and body.

Sweetcorn kernels – for a lighter, quicker version.

Bulgur or rice – to keep the soup hearty and filling.