Under the Tuscan Soup
As the weather cools down, who doesn’t love a comforting bowl of warmth? Soup can be delicious… and nutritious.
Try this recipe with many staple ingredients from the Mediterranean Diet, including beans.
Ingredient Spotlight:
Borlotti is a type of bean often used in soups and stews in Tuscany. These are a nutritional powerhouse, packed with fiber and protein and numerous micronutrients, including folate, magnesium, and vitamin B6, plus copper, folate, and iron.
Borlotti beans are high in polyphenol antioxidants, which combat oxidative stress in your body and may protect you against chronic illnesses, including heart disease and certain cancers.
Personally, I’m a big fan of beans because they provide me with my protein needs (I’m mostly vegetarian).
Soaking your beans overnight is a super important part of the process of getting your beans right. This makes them more digestible as it destroys the active lectins found in the bean. Lectins are proteins that are found in all plants that bind to carbohydrates and are difficult to digest.
Ingredients
2 cups dried Borlotti beans, picked over and rinsed, soaked overnight, and drained
6 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided in 2
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
3 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock or broth
Method
In a soup pot combine the beans, water, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and the bay leaf.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Then reduce the heat to low, cover partially and simmer until the beans are tender, 60 to 75 minutes (add more water if liquid required)
Drain the beans, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Discard the bay leaf. Place the cooked beans into a large bowl and save the cooking pot for later use.
In a small bowl, combine the reserved cooking liquid and 1/2 cup of the cooked beans. Mash with a fork to form a paste (or place in a food processor). Stir the bean paste into the cooked beans.
Return the cooking pot to the stovetop and add the olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion, carrots and celery and saute for about 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until softened, about 1 minute.
Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, chopped rosemary, bean mixture, and stock. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the stew is heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately. Yum!
Number of servings: 6
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