Whenever I go to a food fair, I always seem to come back with lots of beans. It’s a no brainer. Beans are good to eat. Beans are cute. And beans last for ages. (And then there’s the whole good for you, low fat, blah blah blah thing). I go especially crazy at the Salone del Gusto, where the beans are flying in from all over the world.
This year was no different. Kilos and kilos of beans filled my suitcase on my way home from Torino. Due to a lot of traveling over the past month, I’m only just now starting to cook my way through them.
This weekend I played around with my sack of Fagiolo di Sorana. These little white beans come from Tuscany, and were one of the first from that area to be recognized by Slow Food’s Presedi. In other words, they are a heritage variety, in danger of dying out.
But what really drew me to the Fagiolo di Sorano stand at the Salone was the cool way they were cooking them, in a glass flask over low heat. (The restaurant Nino’s in Rome has a similar flask bubbling away in their front window, and it’s something I’ve always been tempted to try). Happily, the stand was also giving out little cups full of the velvety beans. The long, slow cooking resulted in the beans retaining their shape, but somehow, at the same time, becoming as tender as butter.
But when I finally got around to cooking the beans, last Saturday, I realized I wasn’t going to rig up the whole glass flask thing. I mean, really, where do you even get one of those flasks? And would it even work over a gas flame? Instead I just decided to give the beans an extra long soak (the vendor had told me the beans were pretty dry this year, due to this past summer’s drought) then cook them slowly in a big pot.
Since I cooked up the entire bag of beans – a pound – I pretty much have beans for the week.
Sunday I dipped into my pot and took a couple of cups and turned them into bowls of warming, garlicky bean soup. Once the beans are cooked it couldn’t be easier. Beans, bean water, tons of garlic and hefty dose of olive oil and a handful of parsley.
That’s it.
Yes, you can make this with canned beans. But – as always, can’t stress this enough – high quality dried ones are so much better (and cheaper!). Don’t have time you say? Just go in the other room, right now, and put some beans to soak. There, you’ve done it.
I’ve come to realize that the hard part of cooking with dried beans is the planning ahead part. But here’s the thing. You don’t have to plan ahead. I didn’t. I ended up making Garlicky Bean Soup. But who knows what I’ll end up doing with the rest of the beans? Let me know what you make.
Garlicky Bean Soup
Serves 2 – 3
2 cups cooked white beans
1 1/2 cups reserved bean cooking water*
1/4 cup olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Heat olive oil over gentle heat. Add chopped garlic. Let cook for a few minutes, but do not let it brown. Add the beans, and give a good stir. Add the water, and bring to a simmer. Let cook for about ten minutes, covered.
Take off the heat. Using an immersible blender, blend the soup just a bit. I like to have some whole beans floating around, but also like to give the watery broth a thickness.
Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
To serve, ladle into bowls, sprinkle with parsley and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top. If you want to make the dish even more filling, put a piece of toasted rustic bread at the bottom of the bowl. And if you want to add more garlic, rub the toast with a clove of garlic.
*If you are using canned beans, don’t use the water from the can. Instead, use water or else a light broth. 
OK, you convinced me, I just put some beans on to soak. Really! I love bean soups but I’ve never kept them this simple.
Also — who wouldn’t want soup served in that charming bowl you have?
Aren’t those birdies cute?
Nino’s is my favorite restaurant in Rome. We happened upon it by change one lunchtime, and have been going back for 30 years.
Your recipe sounds delish; I’ll be trying is soon.
I love Nino’s too. There bean soup is one of my favorites, and I also love the little spinach sformato they do.
The link to Nino’s also listed some other restaurants including Al Pompiere. I guess it’s very popular but I don’t think that it is anything special.
My house in Bagni di Lucca is very close to the source of these beans. I will be back there soon so I will look for them and make this delicious soup…thank you.
Let me know how it turns out.
Hello Elizabeth! I have been visiting in the States (Thanksgiving!! Plus such good eats, wow have things changed in the MidWest) and am just now going back in to blogland. These last two entries of yours remind me exactly why I am so head over heels for your blog–the fancy and the simple but always the best! I can’t wait to make this easy soup and to dream about where I will eat when I finally make it to Venice!
Merci mille fois,
Heather
I was beginning to wonder where you were! Hope you had a great trip and may the next one be to Italy.
What fun it must be to attend the Salone. My sister and I were just talking seriously about two years from now. And how marvelous not only to taste everything, but to be able to speak to the very people who know it best.
When I can I try to purchase (and when possible grow) food varieties on Slow Food’s US Ark of Taste, their endangered list – things like Gravenstein apples, Red Fig tomatoes, etc. What a pity it would be to see such foods disappear from this earth.
Your soup sounds great, and that flask is seriously cool.
What fun if you and your sister came to the next Salone. Just think of all the beans we could buy, cocktails we could enjoy after…..
So easy, and so very good! Alas, living Stateside now, I’ll have to settle for standard cannelloni…
Made it tonight with Roman beans. The color wasn’t alluring but the flavor was terrific! Very happy I tried your recipe – it’s a keeper!
Glad to hear it!
I don’t know if this information has already been posted (sorry I am too lazy to go back and check it out) but Steve Sando from Rancho Gordo, bought Sorana seed stock before Marcella Hazan died (in response to a request from her). Marcella died around the time of the first harvest and, with Victor’s permission, renamed the North American grown Sorana bean, the Marcella. It is every bit as wonderful as described here. Disclaimer: I am not Steve’s agent, just a very satisfied customer! https://www.ranchogordo.com/products/marcella?lssrc=recentviews
Thanks!!!