Mixed Legume Soup
Traditional Sicilian recipe and in a pressure cooker.
It is an extraordinarily tasty dish, considered a one-pot meal, because besides legumes we will use vegetables.
In addition to being a one-pot meal or first course, it can also be used as an appetizer.
Great in winter, but also in summer, because we could enjoy it cold, and why not also by cooking pasta in it or soaking slices of bruschetta.
You can use pre-packaged mixed legumes, or create your own using all the leftovers from the pantry.
I will give you some suggestions on the assortment of legumes and their weights, but you can change them according to your taste. We will use a total of 500 g of legumes.
Follow the tips I propose today and you will be more than satisfied!
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- Cost: Very economical
- Rest time: 8 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Slow cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Fall, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients
Let’s go shopping
- 3.5 oz dried beans (your choice)
- 3.5 oz dried chickpeas
- 3.5 oz dried peas
- 3.5 oz dried lentils
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 potato (optional)
- 1 g tomato (ripe)
- 1.4 oz extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp bouillon cube (vegetable)
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper (or chili pepper)
- 7 oz bread (or pasta)
Mixed Legume Soup
Tools
What we need to make
- 1 Pot large with lid
- 1 Bowl for soaking legumes
- 1 Knife
- 1 Immersion blender or regular
Steps
Let’s cook
Choose from these legumes or grains, this could be a pantry-clearing recipe.
In a large bowl, soak the legumes for at least 8 hours, making sure the water is cold. You can choose from beans,
dried peas
chickpeas
cannellini beans
fava beans with and without skin
lentils
soybeans etc. After the time has elapsed, rinse the legumes and remove all excess water.
Prepare all the vegetables and leave them whole.
Fill a large pot with cold water and add all the legumes and vegetables cut into large pieces, and cook for at least 2 hours in a regular pot,
and about 30 minutes in a pressure cooker, starting from the beginning of the steam release.
In the pressure cooker, the water must be double that of the legumes.
In Sicily, we do not sauté the ingredients, so the soup will be lighter.
At this point, use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables and a small portion of the legumes from the pot
and blend, creating a cream that will help us make the soup creamy, and which we will add only at the end.
Now decide if you want to cook pasta in the soup or soak the bread slices.
If you want pasta, at this point cook it in the soup and add the salt. Once the pasta is cooked, add the legume cream and raw extra virgin olive oil.
If you want to soak the bread instead, slice the bread, rub garlic on each slice, add some herbs and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and toast it on the grill or griddle.
I prefer to use my whole wheat semolina bread
Add the legume cream, extra virgin olive oil to the soup, and adjust the salt and pepper or chili pepper and serve.
Storage advice and variations
The mixed legume soup. You can store the soup without bread or pasta in the fridge for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
I never add baking soda for soaking.
If you want to use pre-cooked legumes, the cooking is limited to just the time needed for the vegetables to be cooked, usually in a regular pot it will take 20 minutes and in a pressure cooker, 6 minutes will be enough.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Mixed Legume Soup
Can I add pasta?
Yes, you can add small pasta or broken spaghetti or even rice or another grain of your choice.
