Alright, this is it. This is the winter Tuscan soup you’ve been waiting for. I’ve made many a white bean soups before, I’ll admit — some on my #dinneronawhim Instagram story series, in fact — but never have I nailed it like this! I’ve discovered a few secrets to up the flavor without overdoing the effort. You’ll feel like it’s been stewed by your long-lost, honorary Italian grandmother all day long, when truly you’ll only need 30-40 minutes max to make it magic.
Here are the key elements to this batch:
1. Cooking the pasta in the soup. We’re not separately boiling noodles here — we’re stirring uncooked pasta into the soup itself to simultaneously soften and soak up the flavors of chicken stock and garlic. Note: If you’re interested in the carbs, no problem! Simply omit this step and it’ll still be delicious.
2. Puree half of the white beans. After blending one can of cannellinis with a bit of water and oil, you’ll stir it into the soup alongside whole beans and stock. Suddenly, the base of the soup becomes richer without too much weight and zero cream required!
I hope this recipes warms you up sometime soon!
Serves 4-6
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil, separated
2 links Italian chicken sausage (about 1/2 pound), casings removed
2 14-ounce cans cannelinni beans, separated
4 cups chicken stock, plus 1 extra cup if needed
Salt + pepper, to taste
1 cup ditalini pasta noodles
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
1 heaping handful curly kale, de-ribbed and torn into bite-size pieces
Parmigiano-Reggiano, to garnish
1. In a dutch oven or large pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and garlic over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon to cook garlic until fragrant, careful not to burn! After 2 minutes, add chicken sausage, stirring to cook while breaking down sausage into small pieces with a spoon.
2. While sausage cooks for 5 minutes, add one can of cannellini beans to a food processor (or small bowl with an emulsifier) with remaining tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of water. Pureé until smooth.
3. Add pureed beans, remaining can of whole cannellini beans, 4 cups of chicken stock, and generous pinch of salt and pepper to the pot. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
4. Stir in ditalini noodles and bring down stovetop heat to medium, continuing to simmer until noodles are al dente, about 10 minutes. Then, stir in kale and basil and taste to adjust salt, if needed.
5. Ladle into bowls. Grate fresh Parmigiano Reggiano over soup, followed by cracked black pepper.
