The cannellini bean cream with radicchio and provolone is an excellent first course, almost a single dish with a strong flavor, perfect for warming up the coldest winter evening.
Vegetable soups, creams, and velvety soups, with the addition of legumes, and in this case also cheese and a bit of bacon, become a perfect quick dish that is easily prepared.
In this recipe, I used dried cannellini beans that I soaked the night before and boiled with a bay leaf to make them more digestible, but if you want to speed up the preparation times, you can also use canned beans.
If you like soups and single dish soups, you can also try
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
- Energy 385.00 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 31.74 (g) of which sugars 2.77 (g)
- Proteins 21.83 (g)
- Fat 19.96 (g) of which saturated 0.91 (g)of which unsaturated 0.63 (g)
- Fibers 8.03 (g)
- Sodium 1,478.38 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 450 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for the Bean and Radicchio Cream
- 18 oz canned cannellini beans (or soaked the night before and boiled)
- 10.5 oz radicchio
- 3.5 oz sweet bacon (in a single slice)
- 3 oz provolone
- 2 shallots
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
Tools
- 1 Immersion Blender
Preparation of the Bean and Radicchio Cream
To prepare the cannellini bean cream with radicchio and provolone, first chop one of the shallots and sauté it in a pan with EVO oil. Add the boiled cannellini beans with a bit of their cooking liquid and let them simmer for about ten minutes. Season with salt and blend with the help of an immersion blender, adding more bean cooking water if necessary. You should achieve a smooth and velvety cream.
Wash the radicchio and cut it into strips. In a non-stick pan without adding fats, sauté the bacon cut into thin strips, and when well browned, transfer it to a plate, leaving the melted fat in the pan.
In the bacon fat, sauté the other chopped shallot and then add the radicchio to stew it (5 minutes will be enough). Put the bacon back into the pan with the radicchio, mix, and adjust the seasoning with salt.
Pour some hot bean cream onto individual plates, complete each plate with some stewed radicchio with bacon, sprinkle with coarsely grated provolone cheese using a large-holed grater, and serve immediately, dusting with freshly ground black pepper to taste.
