Bread And Bean Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Variations: For a sweeter soup, add chopped fennel to your mix. For autumn, add zucchini or butternut squash to your blend.
• Drain the beans and place in a pot with 4 cups chicken stock, 1 clove garlic, half an onion and some salt and pepper. Bring to a low boil, reduce the heat and simmer until tender, 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the bread until deeply golden and toasted. Store in foil.
• Heat 1/4 cup EVOO, 4 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven. Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery, remaining 3 cloves garlic, chile flakes, bay leaf and herb bundle. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, partially covered, to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the wine, kale, cabbage and a little nutmeg. Stir. Wilt the greens, partially covered, 5 to 6 minutes more. Add the beans and their liquids and the tomato puree. Stir. Add 2 cups more stock (reserve 2 cups for the night you serve). Add the cheese rind to the soup. Simmer to combine flavors, 15 minutes. Remove 3 cups of the beans and vegetables, about half the soup, to food processor and puree. Then add back to pot. Cool and store the soup for a make-ahead meal.
• To serve, heat the soup over medium heat, add the bread to the soup and let it absorb the liquid. Thin the soup with the remaining 2 cups of stock. Taste to adjust seasoning. Remove the herb bundle, rind and bay leaf. The ribollita is done when a wooden spoon can stand straight up in the soup. Ladle into shallow bowls and garnish with a generous drizzle of EVOO, finely chopped raw onion and cheese. Leftover soup can be fried in olive oil in a skillet like potato pancakes or hash, and topped with over easy or fried eggs.

Steps:

• Bring leftover soup to a boil. Add diced bread and cook, stirring on occasion, for 10 minutes or until soup is thick and porridgelike. Adjust the seasoning and ladle out. Drizzle with olive oil and dust with more cheese if you like.

Steps:

• Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Spread the bread cubes out over a rimmed baking sheet and bake until dried but not browned, about 30 minutes; set aside.
• Process half the beans and 1/4 cup sof the water in a food processor until mostly smooth, about 12 pulses, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed; set aside.
• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering.
• Add carrots, onion, kale stems, and 1/2 teaspoons salt and cook until vegetables are softened, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Stir in tomatoes and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in pureed beans, remaining whole beans, remaining water, kale leaves, potato, and bay leaves and bring to a simmer.
• Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and simmer until potato is tender, about 40 minutes.
• Stir in rosemary sprig and 2 cups of dried bread cubes into the soup, cover, and let stand off the heat until the bread is soggy and falling apart, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Discard rosemary sprig and bay leaves and stir to break up bread pieces and thicken the soup.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Divide remaining bread cubes among individual bowls and ladle thickened soup over the top.
• Drizzle olive oil over top of each portion and serve, passing out the Parmesan cheese separately.

Steps:

• Bake stale bread 10 minutes at 300 to give it a crunch.
• Heat up stock over medium flame. Add beans to boil.
• Meanwhile, sauté onion, pepper, and garlic in oil until the onion is golden and beginning to blacken.
• Stir the vegetables into the beans and stock. Add spices to taste. Let simmer for a few minutes.
• Stir in bread and let set to soak up some moisture.
• Before serving, you might want to add some extra water (because the bread will have sopped up most of the stock).

Steps:

• In 2-quart saucepan, cook bacon over medium-high heat 2 minutes. Add beef; cook 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain.
• Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Cover; cook over medium heat 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.