Hearty Italian Bean and Pasta Soup

As I was considering what to make for November's No Croutons Required, I remembered this hearty bean, veggie and pasta soup that I used to make at least once every winter. Served with crusty bread, this soup is always a filling and warming meal on a cold snowy day. This time I served the soup with Pumpkin Scones.

There are still a few days left to submit a hearty pasta soup or salad. The submission deadline is the 20th and the guidelines can be found here.

I am sending this along to the January 2012 Blog Hop at FaveDiets. The theme is to submit your favorite Winter Soup.

Hearty Italian Bean and Pasta Soup

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups of vegetable stock
1 carrot, thinly sliced
2 - 3 hot green chilies
1 28 ounce can of tomatoes
2 cups of cooked navy beans (3/4 cup dried)
1 cup of spinach, coarsely chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1/4 cup of fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup of parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 1/2 cups of uncooked pasta (I used rigatoni)
1/4 - 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, celery and garlic and saute until the onion is soft and translucent.

Now add the vegetable stock, carrot, green chilies, and tomatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the cooked beans, spinach, zucchini, basil, parsley and oregano and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.

Cook the pasta, drain and add to the soup pot. Cook for another few minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each bowl with Parmesan cheese.

Serves 8.

Almost Old-Fashioned Baked Beans

Canadian baked beans have come a long way from their ancestral origins in old Québec, where huge pots of navy beans were cooked for seven or eight hours with little more than salt pork and molasses, enough to feed enormous families. Onions, mustard and ketchup add a comforting tang to these pork-free baked beans that take far less time to cook and yield a much more manageable amount — a new, vegetarian-friendly comfort food tradition for modern families. Any white bean can be used in this recipe, but I prefer to use a mixture of navy beans and white kidney beans.

I'm sending this along to Jasmine for her event celebrating Canadian foods. Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess is covering the sweet side of Canada, while Jasmine is looking for more savory creations. What is Canadian food, you might rightly ask. Well, whatever you can cook up in your kitchen with ingredients available to you, complete with requisite imagination. But I recall that maple syrup is an abundant luxury here, and that the birth of Nanaimo Bars and Butter Tarts are patriotic fodder for us Canucks.

Almost old-fashioned baked beans

2 cups dried white beans
2 medium onions, chopped
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper

Soak the beans overnight in water with a little yogurt whey or lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the beans are soft but not falling apart. Remove from heat and drain, saving a little of the cooking liquid.

Preheat the oven at 350°. Combine the beans with all the other ingredients in a large baking or casserole dish with a lid. Cover and bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the beans have reached the desired thickness, stirring every half an hour or so. Add a teaspoon or so of the reserved cooking liquid if the beans become too dry.

Serves 6 to 8.

Curried White Bean and Red Lentil Stew

I like fabulously crafted and exotic gourmet dishes as much as anyone, but I'm always conscious of the need to find simple, easy-to-prepare, nutritious dinners for my readers, many of whom lead just as busy a lifestyle as I do. Bean and grain one-pots cooked with vegetables and spices are the perfect solution for vegetarians pressed for time, and this curried bean-and-lentil stew with rice is easy, tasty and satisfying.

Curried white bean and red lentil stew

3/4 cups dried navy beans
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup basmati rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
1 tablespoon hot water
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
6 cups vegetable stock, heated
1 large tomato, diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
fresh ground black pepper

Soak the navy beans in cold water overnight in a saucepan with a little yoghurt whey or lemon juice added. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer the beans for one hour or until they are soft but not falling apart. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, rinse the red lentils and rice under cold running water in a strainer and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the onions and garlic and fry, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent.

Meanwhile, mixed the crushed saffron threads in the hot water and set aside.

When the onions are cooked, stir in the curry powder, ground cumin, cayenne, rosemary and fennel seeds and fry for 30 seconds, coating the vegetables with the seeds and spices. Pour in the vegetable stock, navy beans, lentils, rice and the saffron and hot water. Increase the heat to high and bring the stew to a boil. As soon as it is boiling, reduce the heat to moderately low and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils and rice are cooked and tender.

Stir in the tomato and tomato paste and continue to simmer for 5 minutes. Just before serving, stir in the chopped parsley, salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Serves 6 to 8.

I'm sharing this recipe with Judith of Shortcut to Mushrooms, who will soon be featuring a roundup of vegetarian meals made in a pot.

White Bean Risotto (Risotto al Fagioli)

White beans add a surprisingly fresh flavour to risotto, and this risotto with beans, herbs and fresh asiago cheese is so hearty and packed with proteins that it's basically a meal all by itself, and a very refreshing and satisfying one accompanied by a light salad of greens and vinaigrette. I use navy beans in my risotto al fanioli, but any white bean such as cannellini, great northern or white kidney will do just as well.

White bean risotto

3/4 cups navy beans
3 1/4 cups water
bay leaf
dash celery seed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
1 large tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/4 cup vermouth
1/3 cup fresh grated asiago cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
fresh ground black pepper

Soak the beans overnight in water with a little yoghurt whey or lemon juice. The next day, at least a couple of hours before starting the risotto, bring the beans and water to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover, cooking for 1 hour or until the beans are tender. Drain and let cool.

Heat 3 1/4 cups water to a simmer along with a bay leaf and some celery seed in a medium sized saucepan while you cook the other ingredients.

Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add in the olive oil, wait a few seconds, then swirl around the bottom of the pan. Add the onion and pine nuts if using and sauté for about 4 or 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Stir in the tomato and garlic and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes.

Add the rice and stir around to coat the grains. Turn down the heat slightly and pour in the vermouth, stirring regularly until the liquid is absorbed.

Add a ladleful of the hot water to the pan and cook gently, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the pan, until the liquid is again absorbed. Stir in more liquid as each ladleful is absorbed. Continue this process until the risotto is thick and creamy — about 25 minutes. The rice should be tender, but firm to the bite.

Just before serving, stir in the drained beans, most of the asiago cheese, and the herbs and salt and pepper. Adjust the seasonings if necessary. To serve, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and a few torn basil leaves.

African Bean and Peanut Soup

This is an easy-to-prepare and hearty soup that is delicious spiced mild or hot. The warming peanut flavour with the black eye peas make it reminiscent of West African cooking, and I like to serve it with other African-flavoured dishes like Northeast African Millet Patties:

African Bean and Peanut Soup

1/2 cup dry black eye peas
1/2 cup dry navy beans
5 cups water
1 1/2 tbsp. butter
1 small onion, diced
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
1 medium green pepper, seeded and diced
1/3 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
3/4 cup unsalted peanuts
1/2 tbsp. dried basil
3/4 tsp. ground coriander
2 unrounded tsp. sea salt

Rinse the black eye peas and navy beans in water with a little bit of yoghurt whey or lemon juice over night at room temperature.

Drain and rinse the peas and beans.

Melt butter in a large saucepan at medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery and stir fry for five minutes or until onions are translucent and starting to brown on the edges.

Add the peas and beans, water and red pepper flakes. Turn up the heat to high and bring the mix to a boil, then immediately turn to low and cover. Cook, covered, until the peas and beans are tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Add peanut butter, peanuts, green pepper, basil and coriander. Turn the heat up slightly and cook for 15 more minutes.

Add salt, and taste to correct seasonings. If you like your soup spicy, add more dried red pepper flakes and even a dash of cayenne. If you want more of a peanut flavour, add more peanut butter and peanuts. This should be a thick soup, but more water can be added if necessary if it's too thick for your taste.