Tuscan White Bean Soup
I love making soups and obviously that means I also love to eat them. Apart from being a great comfort food, they can be easy to put together and it’s often a great way to camouflage a stack of vegetables from fussy children. The finer you blend your soup, the harder it is to detect what vegetables went into it. The main problem I have with soup is that I always make way too much. This is a good thing though because it freezes easily, and it’s wonderful to have on hand when you just can’t be bothered cooking after a tiring day at work.
Tuscan White Bean Soup 
- 200g dried cannellini beans
- 200g dried white spanish beans
- 150g diced pancetta
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 4 carrots, chopped in small cubes
- 5 celery ribs, chopped in same size as carrots
- 125ml fresh tomato pulp.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 litres Vegetable broth
- 500ml water (extra & optional)
- 10 hand torn basil leaves (keeping some aside for garnish)
- pecorino romano
- black pepper
- Place cannellini beans and white spanish beans in a large bowl. Cover with 1.5 litres of water, and a tablespoon of salt. Allow to soak overnight.
- In a large saucpean add the pancetta and allow to cook until golden, stirring frequently as it cooks. Add olive oil, onions and garlic, and cook over a medium heat. Stir for about a minute, and then add the carrots and celery and continue to cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes and basil and stir for about 3 minutes.
- Add the beans to the saucepan along with any water remaining in the bowl after their overnight soak. Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, allow to cook for 1 hour. Taste and season as required.
- Remove a cup of the beans and blend the remaining soup until it is the consistency you are happy with. You might prefer a chunkier soup, or you might like it like a velvet purèe. Add the water only if necessary, the soup should be thick and creamy.
- Add the cup of beans back to soup and serve with freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese, a drizzle of olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper. Add a small basil leaf to garnish.
- For a vegetarian version, eliminate the pancetta.
