Fry

Bean & Escarole Soup

by:
November 11, 2012
0
0 Ratings
Bean & Escarole Soup
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

I have to own up to stealing this recipe a couple of months ago from my friend, Dave Cook. Like all simple dishes, it relies on good quality ingredients. For the 'beans' element, I prefer to soak and cook dried ones for this soup but you could use the bottled Spanish Alubia beans which come in excellent cooking stock. The 'greens' in this recipe is escarole, a broad-leaved endive which looks a bit like a large, frilly romaine or cos lettuce but it is a bit more robust. Escarole is sweeter and less bitter than its endive relatives. You could use something like turnip tops (cima di rapa) if you blanch them in boiling salted water for a minute or two first then plunge into cold water to retain the colour. As I had some turnip tops, this is what I used for the soup photographed. —Evie

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • half pound dried white beans, such as cannelloni
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 celery stick
  • half onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1-2 small dried chillies, de-seeded and crumbled
  • a handful of basil leaves, torn
  • a handful of parsley, roughly chopped
  • 6-8 escarole leaves, roughly torn
  • 2 ounces grated parmesan, plus more to serve
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
Directions
  1. Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water.
  2. Drain beans and discard the water. Bring to the boil in a large pan of fresh water with the whole carrot, celery stick and half onion.
  3. Boil fast for 10 minutes to remove toxins, skim off impurities then reduce to a simmer for an hour or more (depending on freshness of the beans).
  4. When the beans are soft, discard the vegetables. Remove a quarter of the beans, puree and then return them to the pan. This will thicken the soup and give it a silky texture.
  5. Fry the garlic and chilli in olive oil and cook without browning. Add the basil, parsley and escarole and cook for 1 minute to wilt.
  6. Add all to the beans pot. Add grated parmesan and salt and pepper. and serve with a drizzle of good olive oil and shavings of extra parmesan.
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  • Evie
    Evie
  • mward
    mward
  • Tara
    Tara
  • valerie johnston
    valerie johnston

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5 Reviews

Tara
Tara July 18, 2016
Hi Evie,

This recipe looks great but I was wondering how much water to start with and also if you prefer water or stock. Thanks!
 
Evie
Evie July 5, 2016
So glad to hear you liked it too mward. I'm happy to harvest anything at all in the kitchen garden this year. In the UK we are having a terrible plague of slugs of snails thanks to an awful rainy late spring and early summer - I promise you it doesn't really rain here all the time normally! It's proving a very challenging year here all round. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
 
mward
mward July 4, 2016
Of course having this soup in cool weather makes more sense, but I was looking for recipes to use escarole in, as it's a new addition to my garden this year and is absolutely gorgeous and grows well here! I love white beans, too, and basil and parm, so I had this for lunch on the Fourth of July! Delicious.
 
valerie J.
valerie J. January 15, 2015
This soup is wonderful and delicious! It's my new favorite, and we will be eating
it all winter. I made it with the traditional escarole, but it would be good with kale
or broccoli rabe or even spinach, I think.
 
Evie
Evie January 19, 2015
I'm so glad you liked this Valerie. It's one of my favourites too. I completely agree, kale, spinach or broccoli rabe (we also know this in Europe as turnip tops or cima di rapa) all work beautifully and it's good to be able to ring the changes as the season moves on. Thanks for taking the time to let me know. Evie