Tuscan Bean Soup

by on in Cyndi Casemier Blog, Recipes

Tuscan Bean Soup

Ingredients:
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 medium carrots, thickly sliced
  • 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 3 sprigs fresh oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • 2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans or other small white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 5 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
  • 4 cups baby kale or baby spinach, stems removed if tough
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano, for garnish
  • Olive oil, to serve
  • Extra grated Parmesan, to serve
Directions:
  1. Cook the vegetables: In a soup pot, heat the olive oil. When it is hot, add the carrots, onion, celery, garlic, fresh oregano sprigs, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes until the vegetables look softened and the onions are turning translucent.
  2. Prepare the beans: On a plate, mash 1/2 cup of the beans with a fork or potato masher. Add them to the vegetables in the pot. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
  3. Simmer the soup: Add the remaining beans to the pot and stir well. Stir in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, partially cover with the lid placed askew, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the carrots are tender and the liquid is flavorful.
  4. Discard the oregano sprigs; the leaves will have fallen into the soup. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
  5. While the soup simmers: Sprinkle bowls with olive oil and cheese.
  6. Add the greens to the soup: Add the kale or spinach to the pot and simmering for another 2 minutes, or just until the greens wilt.
  7. Serve the soup: Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with oregano and more olive oil, if you like, and serve with Parmesan toasts and extra Parmesan for sprinkling.
The best bean soups have a lived-in quality, as if they have been simmering on the back burner for hours, just waiting for you.
You can achieve this by cooking the dried beans from scratch, of course. Or you can skip the long simmer and pop open a can!
Bean soups have the distinct advantage of tasting terrific either way. Today’s soup uses canned beans to make a 30-minute meal that tastes like it took all day.
When you start this soup, sauté vegetables first to give the soup lots of flavor. Let carrots, onion, and celery cook with sprigs of oregano, then stir in the beans and chicken stock.
To make sure your soup has that appealing “simmered all day” quality when using canned beans, just mash some of the beans before they go into the pot. This will give your soup the slightly distressed texture that a good bean soup should have.
Simmer the soup briefly, then add baby kale or spinach for their pretty green color and texture. Parmesan toasts are an easy side dish to make while the soup is simmering and they give your dinner plenty of crunch.
Sprinkle the bowls with olive oil and more Parmesan. You’re done in less than half an hour, but your soup will taste like an afternoon’s effort.

Read more: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_tuscan_bean_soup/#ixzz53KyjAEMx