Tuscan Vegetable Bean Soup with Kale and Rice
When I was in Italy I had some fabulous soups; such as vegetable soup with beans and Ribolleta, which is the vegetable soup with day old bread added to it. Tomato and bread soup was also on many menus. One I have not been able to find is a recipe for creamy bean, Arborio rice and vegetable soup. I created a Tuscan soup borrowing a little bit from each that I had tried. It’s a vegetable, bean soup and I added rice instead of bread which makes it gluten free. I added the rice during the last 20 minutes of cooking which worked out if you were eating all the soup. When reheated the rice was overcooked but tasted just as good. I made this for my Uncle and a friend when he was visiting and they both loved it. I sent some over to my 90 year old neighbor and he said it was the best soup he ever had! That’s saying something; his wife was a very good cook when she was able to cook for them. I have to admit, I made this soup a couple of times to make sure it was right and I never tired of it. I literally ate it everyday for lunch. In fact, I think it’s time to make another batch.
Tuscan Vegetable Bean Soup with Kale and Rice
1 cup dried Great Northern or Cannellini beans
2 Tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces diced pancetta
2 cup diced onion
1 ½ cups diced celery with leaves
1 cup diced carrot
4 garlic cloves minced
1 zucchini, chopped (approx. 2 cups)
1 cup diced tomato, fresh, freezer fresh or canned
2 quarts reduced sodium chicken broth
1 dried cayenne or a pinch of flakes
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 bunch of kale, remove stems if large, chop into bite size pieces (approx. 8 cups)
¾ cup Arborio rice*
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grated Pecorino cheese, optional
Cover the dried beans with water and soak overnight. Drain and rinse. In a large pot add beans and cover with water cook at a simmer for 45 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside. This can be done a day ahead, cover and refrigerate until needed.
Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat, add olive oil and pancetta, cook stirring until lightly browned. Add onion, celery and carrot; cook 3 minutes or until onion is slightly softened. Add garlic and zucchini and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, broth, cayenne, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf; simmer until tender about 20 minutes.
Add rice, beans and kale; cook until rice is tender 15-20 minutes. Taste, add salt and pepper.
Ladle into a soup bowl, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and have grated Pecorino cheese at the table to add if you like. Oh, remove the cayenne, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary or leave in for a surprise.
* If making ahead, you could make the soup a day or two ahead of time and then bring to a simmer and add rice. Or cook the rice separate and stir in before serving. Of course, you don’t have to do any of this, like I did.
