Vegetarian soup--Italian bean and farro soup
Vegetarian soup--Italian bean and farro
Italian farro and bean soup
Italian farro and bean soup
Italian farro and bean soup
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, organic extra virgin
- 3 each celery stalks, thinly slices
- 2 leeks, organic, use everything except the roots and wash super well.
- 1 cup farro, you can substitute barley or wheat berries
- 12-15 ounces borlotti beans, I made mine in the crockpot the night before. You of course could use a can of pinto beans
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste, I like the sun-dried version
- 6 cups vegetable broth, I used the bean water and filled the rest in with vegetable broth
- 10 ounces frozen organic petite peas, fresh is awesome too!
- 2 large carrots, cut in half moons
- 2 rinds Parmigiano -Reggiano, Romano works great too!
- 1 cup fresh organic green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 6-8 cloves organic garlic, minced
Italian farro and bean soup
- In a stockpan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the leeks and celery and saute for about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, farro, tomato paste and stir it all together and saute about another 4-5 minutes. Add your vegetable broth and ground pepper, let the soup simmer for about 30 minutes. At this point taste the soup for salt. The broth you are using may have enough. If not, start adding small amounts to arrive at the salt level that works for you.
- Now add the green beans and carrots. If the peas are fresh, you should add those now too. If they are frozen, let them defrost while you simmer the soup another 25 minutes. At the end of the 25 minutes, simmer and add the beans and peas, then simmer for 5 more minutes. Fish out the cheese rinds and serve this delicious soup. You can add a few sprinkles of romano cheese and serve. Try it with my beer bagels!
Italian farro and bean soup
I love making soup probably because my husband loves soup. I think I could serve him soup and bread for the rest of his life and he would be totally okay with that! I may be exaggerating but who doesn't love a bowl of hot soup and fresh bread? I can only imagine myself in a small Italian village kitchen just tossing in a big pot of all the leftover vegetables from the week's meals along with some fresh bread out of the oven. You may think of it as peasant food but I call it heaven!
I don't like recipes that force me to use only a part of something. In this case, it would be the leeks. If your leek bunch comes either 2 or 3 to the bunch, just use all of it. I mean all of it! I use the entire leek even the dark green tops, only throwing away a few bad looking parts and even then, cutting off just the roots. I slice the entire leek down the center and pull it apart to wash out the dirt between each leaf. Trust me on this, you want to take the time or you will have a very gritty soup! I also save all my hard cheese rinds in the freezer. You can buy them in the grocery, but why? Save your money and just save the rinds for when you need them. They add a nice depth of flavor in a vegetarian broth. Also, I saved the water leftover from cooking my beans and added that to the soup too!
I served this soup with Jackie O's, Oil of Aphrodite. It's an excellent stout aged in a rum barrel. Even though I live in the same state it's produced, I could only procure one bottle to be shared with my husband. I hope you get a chance to try it and I really hope they make more, a lot more!