Tuscan White Bean Soup

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!

Tuscan White Bean Soup with Broccoli Rabe

5 from 2 reviews

This tuscan white bean soup with broccoli rabe recipe is cozy and comforting. The perfect fall bowl of soup.

prep timePrep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

number of servings10 servings

PRINT SAVE +SAVED! PIN

LEAVE A REVIEW

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark while you cook

Ingredients

  

0.5x1x2x

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups yellow onion, diced small
• 1 cup celery, diced small
• 1 cup red bell pepper, diced small
• 1 tbsp kosher salt, plus 1 tsp
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried Italian herbs
• ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 8 cups chicken stock, or canned low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 pounds dried white beans, cannellini, baby lima, or great Northern, rinsed, picked over, soaked overnight, and drained
• 1 piece parmesan cheese rind, about 1 × 3 inches, optional
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups water
• 1 ½ lbs broccoli rabe, tough stem ends trimmed, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 whole lemon, zested
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Toppings

• 6 oz Parmesan cheese, finely grated (about 1 ½ cups)
• olive oil, for drizzling

Get Recipe Ingredients

Before You Start…If you make this recipe, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked it. This helps our business thrive and continue providing FREE recipes!

Instructions

 

• Heat the olive oil in an 8-quart soup pot or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and ¼ teaspoon of the black pepper and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, dried Italian herbs, and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the stock, beans, Parmesan rind, bay leaf, and water and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to simmer gently and cook, partially covered and stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, 45 to 60 minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer about 1 cup of the beans from the pot to a small bowl and mash them with the back of a spoon. Return the mashed beans to the soup and add the remaining 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and continue to cook, uncovered, until the broth thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Add the remaining black pepper, the broccoli rabe, and rosemary sprig and continue to cook until the broccoli rabe is just tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Remove the Parmesan rind, bay leaf, and rosemary sprig and discard them.
• Serve the soup in wide, shallow bowls, garnished with grated Parmesan and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Save this Recipe!

Easily save this recipe to your own recipe collection box and come back to it anytime you want!

SAVE THIS RECIPESAVED!

Nutrition

Calories: 441kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 1721mg | Potassium: 1928mg | Fiber: 17g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 2456IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 523mg | Iron: 12mg

*Nutritional information is not guaranteed to be accurate.

course of this recipeCourse: Main Course

cuisine typeCuisine All Cuisines, Italian

keywords used in this recipeKeyword: fall recipes, soup recipes

Did you try this recipe?

Please Leave a Review & Star Rating!

See what’s cooking

Hi! I’m Heather

I’m Heather, a recipe developer and content creator based in Vancouver, Washington. I started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006 because I believed weeknight dinners shouldn’t be boring and gourmet shouldn’t mean complicated. I’m also the co-founder of Spiceology, so safe to say I think about food for a living. Stick around for recipes that actually make it into your regular rotation.

Learn More About Heather →