Tuscan bean and pasta soup with rosemary

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We love the different seasons and the change they bring to your eating habits. Autumn, with shorter, cooler days, seems to demand more sustaining and ‘comfort’ food. This recipe, which is from Delia Smith’s Vegetarian Collection, fits the bill admirably. And it is amazingly good for so few and so simple ingredients. The recipe calls for borlotti beans but we can’t buy them here so used haricot blanc – any white bean will do. It is necessary to use dried – tinned just doesn’t seem to give the same result (sorry, Our Adventure in Croatia) but it’s no sweat apart from remembering to put them to soak the night before since once it is cooking you can go away and leave it to do its thing while you get on with something else.

One other detail, do chop the rosemary as finely as you can because then they will just cook into the soup. Large pieces of leaf won’t and they aren’t pleasant in the mouth – we know, been there, done it, got the T-shirt!

• 225g borlotti beans
• 110g short-cut macaroni
• 1 heaped tbsp fresh rosemary, very finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 1/2 tbsp tomato puree
• salt and black pepper
• freshly grated parmesan, to serve

The night before, put the beans in a large bowl and cover with about 4 pints (2.25 litres) cold water. Next day, drain the beans. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the chopped onion. Cook gently, covered with a lid, until soft but not coloured – about 10 minutes. Stir in the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the chopped rosemary and the tomato paste, stir into the onion mixture and cook for another minute. Add the beans and 1.75 litres (3 pints) of water, bring to a simmer, partially cover with a lid and cook until the beans are tender, about 1 hour but it will depend on the type of bean you are using and their age. At this stage do not add any seasoning as the salt will toughen the skins of the beans.

When the beans are tender, add seasoning. Take out half the soup and either in a blender or using a stick blender purée until smooth. Return to the pan and check the consistency – you may need to add some more water. Check the seasoning. Bring to a simmer and add the macaroni and cook until tender, according to the time stated on the packet, stirring from time to time. Serve in bowls with freshly grated parmesan.

This was lunch yesterday and the evening we went out to dinner with friends.

Humble home-grown and cooked …

When we cooked the chicken legs for Sunday dinner we roasted two others at the same time which we made into a salad for lunch yesterday. In the evening we were invited to friends for an apero which included substantial ‘nibbles’ so we didn’t need an evening meal. After the apero we all went together to the cinema to see the latest Woody Allen film To Rome with Love.

The title of this post is referencing a Jamie Oliver recipe for humble home-cooked beans because lunch today was entirely of home-grown and cooked vegetables – borlotti beans, green beans, courgettes, tomatoes, onions all freshly picked from our ‘humble’ vegetable patch. Jamie does like his adjectives!

His intro says; “My first thought when I saw these beans on a menu in Italy was ‘beans on toast’. But then I tasted them. I felt pretty humbled that such a simple dish had been made to taste so gorgeous.” He goes on to say that you can make the same dish with cannellini, butter or borlotti beans, haricots verts, lentils, even chickpeas. The recipe uses dried beans as these are most likely to be available but if using fresh just cook for about 45 minutes. Dried beans will need soaking for at least 12 hours.

serves 4

• 300g dried beans, soaked for at least 12 hours
• 3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• a few sprigs of fresh thyme
• a sprig of fresh rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 stick of celery, trimmed
• 1 small potato, peeled and halved
• 2 cherry tomatoes
• olive oil
• red wine or sherry vinegar
• fresh parsley, chopped
• 4 slices of sourdough bread

Drain the beans and give them a good wash. Place them in a deep saucepan and cover with cold water, Add the garlic, herb sprigs, bay leaves, celery, potato and tomatoes. Put the pan on the heat and slowly bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 45 minutes to an hour until soft.

Drain them in a colander retaining the cooking water. Remove the garlic, herbs, celery, potato and tomatoes from the beans. Squeeze the garlic out of their skins onto a plate, add the potato and tomatoes and  pinch the skin off the tomatoes. Mash them together with a fork and put back with the beans. Add a little of the cooking liquid just to cover the bottom of the pan, three generous gluts of olive oil and a few splashes of vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Mix it gently together, stir in the parsley and serve on slices of toasted sourdough bread.

We agree with Jamie it is pretty amazing that such simple ingredients can taste so good – another example of the cucina povera of Italy that we love.