In the winter, tomato & white bean soup is always a great way to use items preserved from the summer garden. In particular, I love using canned whole tomatoes. Opening a jar in the winter when the garden is empty and resting reminds me of summer.
You can make this recipe with canned tomatoes from the store, but if you have any home canned from the garden, they elevate this soup.
Inspiration
This soup takes inspiration from two sources. The first is a Tuscan soup called acquacotta, which translates to cooked water. You can use vegetable or chicken broth in this recipe, but I suggest you try it as written first. It is an excellent option, mainly using pantry ingredients, even if you have no stock on hand.
The second inspiration is this tomato and white bean stew from the NY Times, which I recommend cooking through as written sometime to understand the flavors that can come from such simplicity.
I prefer to add vegetables and herbs since I have them in the garden for additional nutrition.
Tomato & white bean soup is vegetarian as written and vegan if you eliminate the optional parmesan rind and topping. The beans provide plenty of hearty protein all on their own.
This soup recipe is a good starting point to make it your own. It is endlessly adaptable depending on what you have in your garden or pantry.
Switch it up
- Play with herbs. I love adjusting this since I have an herb garden outside my back door. I highly recommend that you set one up as well! Parsley or oregano would be great substitutions, or add a bay leaf. You can always substitute dry herbs for fresh ones.
- Roast the garlic. Instead of a few cloves, roast a whole head and add it in when you add the beans and additional liquid.
- Add protein. Traditionally, acquacotta is topped with an egg; either poached or fried will work. You could also add in some ground sausage after cooking down the vegetables.
- Change out the greens. If you do not like kale or have any in your garden, you could swap it for another bitter green such as chard, collards, or even broccoli leaves. You could also swap in some shredded cabbage or spinach.
Top with a fried egg and shredded parmesan, and serve with a crusty bread.
Tomato & white bean soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound dried white beans I use navy beans
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 1 bunch kale leaves de-stemmed and chopped
Toppings
- 4 eggs, poached or fried
- 1/2 cup parmesan, divided
Instructions
- In a large pot, cover the beans with enough cold water to have about 2 inches of water above the beans. Leave overnight or at least 8 hours.
- Drain the beans and cover with fresh water by an inch. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to the lowest setting, and simmer for 1-2 hours. Your timing here will vary depending on the freshness of your beans and how long you soaked them. Add more water to cover if needed.They are done when the beans are tenderDrain the beans and reserve 1.5 cups of cooking water.
- Cook the onion, carrot, and celery in 1/4 cup of olive oil with a pinch of salt until tender (about 10 minutes)
- Add in the garlic and cook for one more minute
- Add in the can of tomatoes, and crush in the pot. Cook until the tomatoes start to break down, about 5 minutes.Add in beans, the liquid from the canned tomatoes, and the water reserved from cooking the beans. Add the optional parmesan rind and the herbs tied together in a bouquet garni for easy removal.Note, you can substitute dried hers, one teaspoon each of rosemary and thyme.Simmer for 20 minutes.
- While the soup is cooking, fry eggs in butter.
- Remove the herbs and parmesan rind. Ladle into bowls and top each bowl with an egg, grated parmesan, and a drizzle of olive oil. They look really nice topped with a bit of chopped fresh parley if you have it.