If you have yet to try any of my recipes, I urge you to start here. I didn’t have a set plan when I started cooking, but this turned out to be one of the best soups I have ever crafted.
It was a gray, rainy Sunday in Berkeley, but the farmers’ market had vibrant vegetables that gave me plenty of inspiration. It has fresh carrots, spring onions, rainbow chard and cannellini beans that I soaked overnight. I threw in organic fresh sage, then pureed about half of it so it would be thick. The crowning achievement, though, were the Romano croutons. I grated Romano cheese, and toasted it on thick cuts of fresh ciabatta bread. It was really hard to stop eating them when they came out of the oven – I had to remind myself that they’d be even better after sopping up some of the delicious soup.
I didn’t make soup often in Brooklyn, and now I think I know why. While winter is the time for a steamy bowl of comfort, it is not ideal for local produce in New York. The difference between a vegetable soup with farm-fresh veggies and one with conventional produce is immense. So large in fact, that if I ever move back to Brooklyn, I think I’d wait until late spring or summer before making soup again.
Ingredients for Spring Cannellini Soup with Romano Croutons:
2 cups cannellini beans, soaked overnight
6 baby carrots, peeled, sliced and cut into pieces about 2 in long. Use the kind that comes from the ground, not a plastic bag. You can use regular carrots as well.
3 spring onions, dark green parts removed, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
About 7 fresh, organic sage leaves, chopped
1 bunch rainbow chard, roughly chopped
4 organic tomatoes
2 medium white potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 in. pieces
3 cups of high-quality vegetable broth
1 loaf of ciabatta bread, even better if it’s a day old
½ cup of Romano cheese, finely grated
Extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper
First Phase:
Drain and rinse the cannellini Beans. Cook them on low heat in a large pot of water for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Drain, but reserve about 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Run beans under cold water to stop them from cooking and set aside. Cut an “X” through the skin on the bottom of the tomatoes. Submerge them in boiling water for about 30 seconds. When they cool down, peel them, cut them in half, and de-seed. Chop them roughly and set aside.
Middle Phase:
Heat up a large heavy stockpot on medium heat. Add about 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. When oil is hot, add the green onions and the carrots. Green onions cook faster than regular onions, so keep stirring to make sure they don’t turn brown.
After about 3 min., add the garlic. As soon as you can smell the garlic, about 1 min., add the potatoes. Cook for 5 min., then add the tomatoes.
Wait another few minutes, and add the vegetable broth, reserved water from the beans and sage. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
Final Phase:
Add the beans to the soup and keep cooking.
Time for the croutons – Preheat the broiler
Cut the ciabatta bread into pieces about 2 in. big. They should look like extra large croutons.
Pour good olive oil in a small bowl, and put the grated Romano in another bowl.
Coat each piece of bread with the oil, then cover on all sides with the cheese.
Place the croutons on a baking sheet lined with foil. Broil the croutons, flipping to brown on all sides. *** Make sure to put the tray in the middle of the oven. If the tray is too close to the broiler, the croutons will burn instead of brown. Watch them carefully – don’t walk away from the oven! When they’re down, set aside.
And finally the chard: Heat up a sauté pan and add olive oil, salt and pepper. When oil is hot, add the rainbow chard and sauté for about 2 min, until just wilted.
To Serve: Put some of the chard in the bottom of each bowl. Fill with the soup, and add a few croutons on top. Keep extra croutons on the side – I’m sure you’ll want more!
* This recipe will be part of MLLA – My Legume Love Affiair, hosted by Laurie at Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska. This food blog event was created by Susan at The Well-Seasoned Cook.
Tips and Changes:
Don’t be afraid of the rainbow chard.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to watch the croutons. A few seconds could make the difference. Broiling is essential as well – baking them just isn’t the same.
Where I Shopped:
Dried Cannellini Beans: Monterey Market, Berkeley
Fresh Baby Carrots, Spring Onions, Rainbow Chard, potatoes and ciabatta bread: Temescal Sunday Farmers’ Market in Oakland
Organic tomatoes, vegetable broth: Whole Foods
Romano cheese: The Pasta Shop, Rockridge section of Oakland
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