Cannellini Bean Soup with Wilted Greens

A hearty white bean soup is the perfect winter meal for me. P and I have tried many recipes over the years and have never found them satisfying. Finally, with this recipe from Alice Waters' always-brilliant Chez Panisse Vegetables, we have found the Cannellini bean soup for us. We had to share with you.

We used two different greens for our soup and doubled what the recipe called for. I bought some vibrant dandelion greens at Monterey Market and we grew these stunningly dark and delicate mustard greens in our backyard. It feels good to finally be able to eat something from our sleepy winter garden.




INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
• 1 small carrot, diced small
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 cup dried Cannellini beans (or Great Northern Beans)
• one chunk of prosciutto
• 2 medium tomatoes (we used cherry tomatoes instead)
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 2 bunch spicy greens: dandelion, mustard, arugula, turnip... (Waters only called for one bunch of greens, but I think this soup can handle two.)
  
• olive oil
• dozen sage leaves
• Parmesan cheese, shaved
  

Submerge beans in water and soak overnight.

In your soup pot, cook carrots, onions, and garlic with 1/4 cup olive oil and a splash of water. Stew until translucent. Add soaked beans, bay, prosciutto and cook a few more minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and cook a few more minutes. (Waters calls for the tomatoes to be peeled and seeded. We skipped this step and the soup was still delicious.)


Add chicken stock to the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 1/4 hour until beans are cooked through but not falling apart. (We needed to cook our beans longer than this because they were still underdone.)

Meanwhile remove the stems from greens and cut leaves into 1 inch strips. When beans are cooked, add the chopped greens, and simmer for another 10-20 minutes until greens are tender. Remove prosciutto and discard. Salt soup to taste.

While greens are cooking, in another pan, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and quickly fry sage leaves. Set them aside on a piece of paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Top the finished soup with fried sage leaves, Parmesan shavings, and freshly ground pepper.

Serves 6