Cranberry bean soup, a warm and easy-to-make first course, with dried beans.
For this recipe, I used dried cranberry beans, soaked for 12 hours.
The soaking time actually depends on the beans used, ranging from 6 to 12 hours.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Rest time: 8 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Boiling, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups dried cranberry beans
- 1 carrot
- Half red onion
- as needed celery
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsps fine salt
- as needed bay leaves
- as needed rosemary
Tools
- 1 Knife
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Pot
- 1 Slotted Spoon
- 1 Kitchen Twine
- 1 Vegetable Peeler
Steps
To make the Cranberry Bean Soup, first soak the dried beans overnight or for at least six hours in a bowl, completely covered with water.
After this time, cook them in a pot with plenty of water, again covering them entirely.
Cook for 45 minutes, and occasionally skim off the foam from the surface with a slotted spoon.
Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables for the soffritto by cleaning the celery, carrot, and onion.
Peel half an onion and the carrot, and dice them.
Remove the strings from the celery and cut it into pieces as well.
Place everything in a small bowl with cold water, to be drained when ready to use.
When the beans are ready, take a large pan or pot and sauté the vegetable soffritto.
After a minute, add the beans, stir for the next minute occasionally, and cover them with water up to an inch above the beans.
Tie the aromatic herbs, washed and patted dry with a cloth, with kitchen twine and immerse them in the bean water.
Add a tablespoon of tomato paste and cook for another 45 minutes or until the beans are nice and tender.
Adjust the salt halfway through cooking.
At the end of cooking, for a creamier result, you can do as I do and blend a third of the cooked beans with an immersion blender or a mixer.
Serve with golden croutons.
