Cannellini (or Any Bean) Soup
Makes: 4 servings
Time: At least 1 hour
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You can make soup out of any dried beans you like — white or otherwise — but cannellini are among the creamiest; they purée beautifully and have a mild beany flavor that most people like. See “7 Ideas for Cannellini (or Any Bean) Soup,” below, for all the directions you can take this.
- 1½ cups cannellini or other dried beans, rinsed and picked over, and soaked if you have the time (see page 428)
- 6 cups vegetable stock (pages 97–100) or water, or more as needed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Salt and pepper
- ¼ cup (or more) olive oil for drizzling
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
- Drain the beans if you’ve soaked them. Put them in a large pot with the stock, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the mixture bubbles gently but steadily. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are very soft and falling apart, anywhere from 40 to 90 minutes, depending on how dry they were and whether or not you soaked them. Add more liquid as necessary so the mixture remains soupy.
- When the beans are almost ready, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fish out the bay leaves and discard. If you like, you can purée the soup at this point: Use an immersion blender to partially purée it in the pot, leaving it a bit chunky. Or let the soup cool a little, carefully purée some or all of it in a blender (working in batches if necessary), and return it to the pot. (You can make the soup in advance up to this point. Cool, cover, refrigerate for up to 2 days, and reheat gently before proceeding; you may need to add a bit of water to help thin it out.) Taste and adjust the seasoning. Drizzle with some olive oil, garnish with parsley, and serve.
7 Ideas for Cannellini (or Any Bean) Soup
As good as basic bean soup is, it can be made even more delicious with a few simple additions. Try any of these, alone or in combination:
- Tomato paste (about ¼ cup) or a cup or 2 chopped fresh or canned tomatoes, added at the beginning.
- Nori seaweed, toasted (see page 244) and minced, about ¼ cup, added at the beginning and/or a sprinkle as a garnish. Use sesame oil instead of olive oil for drizzling.
- Chopped fresh vegetables — carrots, celery, potatoes, shallots, turnips, or whatever you like (1 to 2 cups) — added when the beans are getting tender but still have a little ways to go.
- Any whole grain, like brown rice, barley, or cracked wheat (½ cup or so), with the beans reduced by the same amount, added at the beginning; or quick-cooking grains (¼ cup), like quinoa, couscous, or bulgur, stirred into the soup when the beans are tender — cover the soup and let it stand off the heat until the grains are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Minced garlic (at least 1 teaspoon), added about 5 minutes before the end of cooking.
- Chopped greens, like kale or collards (1 to 2 cups), added during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
- 4 to 8 Garlic Croutons (page 678), 1 or 2 added to the bottom of each soup bowl before serving.