Tuscan White Bean Soup

[Basilgirl]

Please help. What did I do wrong? It was just...blah. I've never made this before, is it supposed to be blah???

Saute pancetta, remove, discard (NOT), olive oil, onions, garlic, beans (canned), simmer, throw in rosemary sprig off heat, cover & let sit for 20 minutes.

It as icky and thin, so I pureed it and threw in red wine vinegar & hot sauce. Tossed in the pancetta and swirled olive oil on top. Oh yeah, also threw in some of Mom's tomato/basil sauce I had hanging around. That helped a little bit.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[curlywurlyfi]

how disappointing - bean soup should be really heartwarming. you could try adding some of the drained bean liquid? full of starch so makes for a slightly thicker broth (not to mention all that delicious salt they put in there). Sounds like it was missing a dimension of flavour as well as texture. onions nice and browned? hmmmm. I wonder if it would have been better the day after.

sorry if that last sentence is just about the most unhelpful thing you've ever heard!!

[guajolote]

Try adding a piece of Parmigiano Reggiano rind.

[Jinmyo]

you could try adding some of the drained bean liquid?

From the tin?

GAH.

Basilgirl, it's bean soup. It only gets so good and no further.

[Janice]

I often go for a squeeze of lemon juice added just before serving, especially in soups involving pulses

[Jim Dixon]

Next time use dried beans and cook them carefully. Cannellini are good, zolfini even better but almost impossible to find (small white beans are close, but not nearly as flavorful).

I go back and forth about soaking, but the real key is long cooking at low temperature.

I also prefer sage over rosemary for beans like this, and the olive oil should be very fruity and aromatic. When you drizzle it over the beans at the table, you want to smell the oil.

Jim

[bilrus]

I just made a white bean soup out of the Inn at Little Washington cookbook that had you add heavy cream at the end (I used Half and Half). It did make it much more luxuirous.

When I have made Tuscan style recipe I have, the Red Wine Vinegar is a must. Parm on top at the end adds a lot.

Also if it is too thin, how about just adding more beans?

[badthings]

Next time use dried beans and cook them carefully. Cannellini are good, zolfini even better but almost impossible to find (small white beans are close, but not nearly as flavorful).

I go back and forth about soaking, but the real key is long cooking at low temperature.

I also prefer sage over rosemary for beans like this, and the olive oil should be very fruity and aromatic. When you drizzle it over the beans at the table, you want to smell the oil.

Jim

What he said.

Everything he said.

Some people are more attuned to the joys of legumes than others. Perhaps you don't really like them that much? (Though it is impossible to tell from the canned variety).

I would only add that the spanish are also conoisseurs of dried beans, many of which make a good substitute if you cannot find satisfactory cannelini.

Jim, where do you find zolfini in the U.S.? I almost exploded with excitement when I saw some at a (now-defunct) fancy food store, only to recoil in horror at the price: something like $25 for 300g. Even I cannot justify spending that on beans.

[Bicycle Lee]

Bean soup can take more salt than you think...I always start with a good stock, ham, onions, garlic and some fresh basil. I add a little more stock than is needed and reduce and crumble in stale (or dried out) sourdough bread.

[Alex]

Like g said, Parm-Reg rind is good. I also add peeled/seeded/chopped tomatoes and some chopped escarole. Some regular bacon along with the pancetta would add a little smokiness.

[dano1]

As said try dry beans and simmer with stock. Use white mirepoix(celery, onion,leek), Maybe more pancetta, a little chile flake will add zip-or top with olio santo(EVO steeped with chile flake).

You can add chard or other greens ie: cavolo nero to bulk up and give more flavor and "rusticness". And salt is your friend here. A quick berr will tighten it up nicely.

hth, danny

[Rhea_S]

I make mine with salsiccia, kale, sage and dried cannelini beans. It's like that Olive Garden soup (zuppa toscana?) but hopefully much better.

[essvee]

I agree with most of what's been said, but I also think that if the OP had let the soup sit for a day, as is, it would have been pretty good.

[ExtraMSG]

Just thought you might be interested that Cook's Illustrated covers several of the specific comments made:

Problem: Tuscan white bean soup often turns out to be full of mushy exploded beans or, on the other end of the spectrum, dried pebbly beans—both in an unmemorable broth.

Goal: Make the perfect bean soup: creamy tender beans in a broth perfumed with the fragrance of garlic and rosemary.

Solution: Toss all those rules about how to prepare dried beans—don't bother with presoaking, do add salt—and use pancetta for the broth and infuse it with rosemary.

TUSCAN WHITE BEAN SOUP

Makes about 21/2 quarts, serving 6 to 8

If possible, use fresh dried beans in this soup. For a more authentic soup, place a small slice of lightly toasted Italian bread in the bottom of each bowl and ladle the soup over. To make this a vegetarian soup, omit the pancetta and add a 4-ounce piece of Parmesan rind to the pot along with the halved onion and unpeeled garlic in step 1.

They finish with olive oil and balsamic.

[Craig Camp]

That does not look like any bean soup I ever had in Toscana. There are as many recipes for this soup as there are villages in the region.

First as Jim noted use dried beans. Then, as so many others have mentioned, many other things are often included: garlic, some peeled potatoes (to thicken) carrots, celery, all types of field greens and very often slice or two of old bread. Many times half of the beans are pureed for texture. Good EVOO and Parmigiano Reggiano are a must.

Why would you throw out the pancetta. Pancetta is sometimes discarded, but only after long slow cooking times have removed all the flavor. In this case the pancetta is simmered as a chunk.

Try again! It can be quite delicious.

[MarkinHouston]

After starting the simmer on the cannellini, I brown whole home-made Tuscan sausages and then remove to a plate. In the reserved sausage skillet, sweat some onion, carrot, and fennel (all chopped) for about ten minutes. Add a Tbsp of chopped garlic and Italian parsley and remove pan from heat. When the beans have simmered for an hour, add the vegetable mixture and continue simmering until beans are cooked, another hour to hour and a half. Add the sausages, now sliced into rounds, along with a bunch of chopped chard and a cup of chopped basil. Simmer an additional 5 minutes. Splash in a little olive oil and pass grated Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table. This recipe comes from Bruce Aidells of the eponymous sausage fame.

[Jinmyo]

Certainly the more things that one puts in a bean soup that are not beans, the better the soup will be.

[Basilgirl]

Just thought you might be interested that Cook's Illustrated covers several of the specific comments made

The recipe I used was Cook's Illustrated's quick version

Thanks to all for all the great suggestions.

[ExtraMSG]

The recipe I used was Cook's Illustrated's quick version

There's a reason there's a slow food movement. Try their long version since you might have access to it. It seems to combine several of the suggestions here.

[badthings]

Certainly the more things that one puts in a bean soup that are not beans, the better the soup will be.

I disagree. The point of it is the flavor of the cannelini. If you don't like beans, why make bean soup?

Just my opinion.

[Jim Dixon]

Jim, where do you find zolfini in the U.S.?

I didn't...I brought home a kilo (and kick myself it wasn't 5) from Italy. I know they're occasionally imported by some specialty shops. Best bets would be Zingerman's in Ann Arbor or Corti Bros in Sacramento...I know Zingerman's is online but don't know about Corti.

When I make beans like this, I use a ceramic bean pot and cook them in the oven at about 200 (I have an old gas stove and turn it on low). Dried beans (usually not soaked, but old beans may need it), garlic, sage, olive oil, water, salt. Cook until done. Serve with lots of really good olive oil and more salt.

Jim

edit for spelling Corti the same way both times

[alacarte]

I have a version from the Moosewood cookbook that includes fennel seed, which gives it a subtle and unusual flavor. The fennel seeds are sauteed in olive oil at the beginning, along with any aromatic vegetables you're including in the soup.

[Basilgirl]

Update: took the leftover soup and simmered it down a little last night. It was WAY better than it was on Sunday, like most soups & stews are. So now I am content. Thanks again to all for your advice.

[bleudauvergne]

Making out a list of things mentioned in this thread for a great soup. White beans, cured ham or sausage, garlic, onions, rosemary or sage, celery, leek, chard, kale, parsley, fennel, potato, lemon juice or vinegar, olive oil, salt, maybe a dash of some spice like fennel seed or hot pepper. It's got all of my favorite things in it!

[Adam Balic]

Canned beans taste of the can I'm afraid and the best you can do for them is to try and add other flavours to compensate for this, but as this is the base flavour, basically what you are doing is trying to take 'blah, flavour and make it into something not quite so blah.

Try dried beans and build on that. Also a drizzle of the best quality olive oil you can get also helps.

What I do is to cook the bean slowly in a minimum of water and a lot of olive oil, plus garlic and sage, pepper. Broth or water is added to make the soups as thick or as thin as I want.

Salt is important with beans. People don't add enough salt to food sometimes and in somes cases like soup, often bland flavours are a result of to little salt.