Rich and Hearty Tuscan White Bean Soup Recipe - Vegan!

Check our our Patreon!   / loveyourfood   Need a kitchen thermometer? Check out ChefsTemp! Use code LoveYourFood for 15% off a meat thermometer! https://shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=100320... This is a staple soup for any repertoire, especially for vegetarians, vegans, and others who have simply decided to attempt to reduce their meat consumption. The soup is very hearty and is one of those traditionally vegan recipes, meaning that within its cultural context it has generally not been made with meat as an essential ingredient. That said, one can certainly make the soup richer with chicken or veal stock. Beans do not cook properly in the presence of salt, so if you’re using dry beans boil them separately in pure water until they are about ready. While the beans are cooking, the rest of the soup may be assembled and then the beans added to the rest of the soup, already in progress. This soup may be served as a brothy soup with beans and other veg floating around in it, somewhat like a minestrone without tomato. However, I like to partially puree the soup, leaving some proportion of whole ingredients while blending the rest into a fairly creamy puree. I think that if you can get the traditional large white kidney beans which ought to be used for this recipe, leaving everything whole allows separate enjoyment of each large, creamy whole bean in the final soup. If you’re using navy beans as we did, it may be a better idea to puree the soup. Makes enough for 4-6 people, roughly 2 litres. Equipment:  medium to large saucepan for boiling dry beans  large dutch oven or soup pot  optionally a blender (immersion or otherwise) Ingredients: 1 cup dry canellini beans boiled in pure water ~90 min until tender; or one can 18-24 oz 3 ea shallots 4 cloves garlic 1-2 ea carrots 3 stalk celery 1 Tbsp tomato paste up to 3 if not concentrated 1 ea dried chili pepper or 1/4 tsp cayenne 4 oz greens kale, spinach, tatsoi, mustard/beet greens, etc. Italian herb blend e.g. rosemary, oregano, basil, thyme(, chives, parsley) dry or fresh Procedure: 1. Set up the dry beans to boil: rinse the beans a few times to ensure there’s no dust on them, and then boil them in pure water, about 4x volume of water as beans. 2. Meanwhile, set the soup pot over low heat to warm while preparing the vegetables. 3. Peel the shallots, garlic, and carrots. 4. Cut the shallots, garlic, carrots and celery down to small enough pieces to cook at a reasonable pace, and in shapes that will look alright in the final soup unless you plan to puree all of them. 5. Use a little cooking oil in the soup pot and add the cut vegetables to sweat. Salt them a little, stir, put the lid on the pot, and let them cook 5-10 minutes at medium-low heat to soften without taking on color. 6. Chop or grind the dried chili pepper. 7. If using dried herbs, prepare roughly a tablespoon of mixed Italian herbs in your preferred proportions (or use an Italian herb mix / seasoning). If using fresh herbs, they will go in later; preserve them whole until as soon before using them as possible. 8. Once the vegetables have sweated suitably, the beans should probably also be ready. Once the beans are tender, add them and their cooking liquid to the sweating vegetables. 9. Add the chili flakes and any dried herbs. 10. Allow the soup to simmer 15-20 minutes, or more, to ensure that all the vegetable pieces are completely soft and ready to be pureed. Alternately, if everything is to be left whole, you may prefer a somewhat more al-dente texture of the carrots. 11. If the soup is to be pureed, optionally remove 1 or 2 cups (or more) of solid material beforehand in order to add it back afterwards for texture. Then puree the remaining soup with an immersion blender, or in a regular blender or food-processor, possibly in batches. 12. Recombine soup back in the pot, taste and season to perfection using salt, pepper, lemon juice and hot sauce. 13. Serve in wide bowls garnished with a chiffonade of basil, and possibly toasted pine nuts or pepitas. For those who eat cheese, feta is also an excellent choice. Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-...