Emeril’s Tuscan White Bean Soup with Broccoli Rabe

Emeril Lagasse’s recipe for Tuscan White Bean Soup with Broccoli Rabe.  Reprinted with permission.

It’s so hard to believe that the 3 weeks of blogging about “Sizzling Skillets and Other One-Pot Wonders” is coming to a close.  The book was released yesterday and is widely available.  I absolutely recommend that you go get it or ask Santa for it.  It’s just fantastic.

You know how some cookbooks are great resources for specific dishes or ethnic foods?  This book has it all, well almost everything, there aren’t any desserts but for main course meals – it’s the ticket.  It has Vietnamese, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese – you name it, it’s in there.  The one meal I’m looking most forward to is Caribbean Spiced Oxtail!  We’re having it this coming Friday as my butcher had to order in some Oxtail for me.  I swoon just thinking about it.  Ok, I’m back.

Last night I made the Tuscan White Bean Soup and it was a hit!  The kids gobbled it up, the Hubs and Dad didn’t talk much during dinner.  It was delicious, easy to make and I’m glad there’s leftovers for lunch today. Here’s a pictorial AND the recipe!!  🙂  Enjoy!

Start with red pepper, onions and celery in small dice.

Add them to a hot stock pot with warmed olive oil.  Saute for about 5 minutes until they onions are translucent.

Add in some aromatics.  Garlic – lots of garlic, Italian Herbs (I used fresh thyme, rosemary, sage and basil).

Next is the stock.  The recipe calls for chicken stock, but I used Duck Brodo from the remainder of the duck when I made the Wok Seared Duck Salad.

Add some crushed red pepper flakes and a bay leaf.  You’ll also want to toss in a rind from Parmesan cheese.  I save the rinds when I get to the last bit of Parmesan and toss it in a zip top bag and freeze it.  It’s a great addition to soups and stews and a great way to use something you’d normally just throw away.

In goes 2 lbs of white beans.  I used Great Northern’s, but you could use baby Lima’s or Cannelini beans as well.  Give it all a stir and bring to a boil.  Turn down to medium-low and cook for 45 minutes or so.  Remove a cup of beans and mash with a fork or backside of a spoon.  Return to the pot and stir to incorporate.

Living in a small town means that it’s hard to find “different” ingredients.  Broccoli Rabe proved to be impossible so I added Kale from my garden.  I was inspired by my fellow blogger Milisa at Miss in the Kitchen who added kale to her soup as well.

Add the kale and continue to cook until the kale is just cooked.  Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of good olive oil.

I thought you might find this funny.  This is my cat Frankie.  She stood outside the window while I photographed the plated soup for the first shot of this post.  Her nickname is Cranky because she meows in the most annoying and not “cute kitty” kinda way.  I don’t think she took a breath the entire time I was photographing.  She’s also standing on Buddha’s head!  Shame Frankie!