Bean and Farro Soup With Cabbage and Winter Squash
- Total Time
- 2 hours 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ½pound (1¼ cups) borlotti beans, pinto beans or red beans, soaked overnight or for six hours in 1 quart water
- 2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1medium onion, chopped
- 1medium carrot, chopped
- 1small celery stalk, with leaves, chopped
- 2teaspoons chopped fresh sage
- 4large garlic cloves, minced
- Salt
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1pound green cabbage, cored and shredded
- A bouquet garni made with a bay leaf, a couple of sprigs each parsley and thyme
- 1Parmesan rind, wrapped in cheesecloth or tied together
- 1pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced about 2 cups
- ½cup farro
- Generous ½ teaspoon crumbled dried or 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1(14-ounce) can tomatoes, with liquid, chopped
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Freshly grated Parmesan for serving
For the Bean and Farro Soup With Cabbage and Winter Squash
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
175 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 555 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
For the Bean and Farro Soup With Cabbage and Winter Squash
- Step 1
Drain the beans. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven, and cook the onion until it begins to soften, about three minutes. Add the carrot, celery and sage, and continue to cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add half the garlic, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about one minute. Add the cabbage and ½ teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring often, until limp, about 10 minutes. Add the beans, bouquet garni and 2 quarts water, or enough to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, add salt to taste, reduce the heat and simmer one hour. Stir in the squash, and continue to simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, until the beans and squash are tender. Using an immersion blender, partially puree the soup to thicken it, or puree 2 cups in a blender. (If using a blender, do this in batches and cover the blender with a kitchen towel to avoid hot soup splashing). Return to the pot.
- Step 2
While the soup is simmering, combine the farro or wheat berries and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt (to taste), reduce the heat, cover and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes. If there is water left in the pan, drain.
- Step 3
Heat the remaining oil in a medium-size skillet over medium heat, and add the garlic and rosemary. Cook for 30 seconds to a minute, until fragrant, and stir in the tomatoes. Add salt to taste, and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down and the mixture is thick, beginning to stick to the pan and delicious, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir into the soup. Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. Stir in the farro. Taste and adjust salt, and add lots of freshly ground pepper. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.
- Advance preparation: You can make the soup through step 1, 2 or 3 up to three days ahead. Refrigerate, then bring back to a simmer and proceed with the recipe. Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.
Private Notes
Comments
I tweaked my previous pressure cooker method. I sautéed pancetta and onions in an Instant Pot, then carrots, celery, etc as in Step 1. Added unsoaked beans and water and cooked at high pressure for 30 min. Turned off cooker and let cool for 30 min before releasing pressure. Then added squash, cabbage, uncooked farro and tomato mixture and cooked at high pressure for another 12 min. Quick-released pressure and soup was done.
Lovely soup. I added a bit of sherry at the end. Very Very Good
As others have mentioned, this recipe benefits from more acidity. I used the juice of one lemon. Half a batch is a lot for 2. I added a Parmesan rind with the bouquet garni, fished both out before blending, and found it pleasing. (The rind is listed in the ingredients, but not the instructions.) If I made this again, I’d skip the carrot/celery/sage in the beginning and use homemade or store-bought veggie broth instead of the water. It would have been more convenient and cost-effective for us.
This soup was incredibly flavorful! We love this recipe and will probably make it at least once a month from now on, with all the health benefits of farro!
Nice flavor in the end but a fiddly and time-consuming process; "three steps" is a bit misleading. After 7 hours of soaking and 3+ hours of simmering, my pinto beans were still not remotely tender, not sure what happened there.
Made pretty much as directed. Quite delicious. Used (house made) veg stock and dried herbs. I always have farro at the ready, otherwise pretty much a basic bean soup (so easier to cook). The cooked down tomatoes (I’m sure it has a name) was a flavor bomb. Tastes like an upscale version of my simpler butternut squash minestrone. I’ll definitely put this one in rotation.
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