I’m imagining myself enjoying a bowl of this wonderful Fasolada soup on a lazy afternoon in a boisterous Greek taverna. Outside, the turquoise waters of the Aegean Sea lap gently against faded fishing boats beached on the sand . Bottles of Fix beer and a carafe (or two) of retsina are lined up on my table. The sublime music of Mikis Theodorakis fills the space. (There is a handsome Greek guy too, but that is another story.)
Fasolada is a traditional Greek dish. In fact, some call it the Greek National Dish. I guess Moussaka and Fasolada will have to fight it out for that title. They’re both Olympian contenders to be sure.
As the story goes, the King of Athens, traveling to Crete to kill the Minotaur, needed a sacrifice to honor the god Apollo. When the time came, the cupboards were pretty bare and bean soup (fasolada) was presented as the offering. Greeks have been celebrating and enjoying the soup ever since.
In addition to being thrifty, this soup is healthy. It is rich in protein, iron and fiber. It also incorporates a good stir of heart-healthy olive oil at the end of cooking to give it its wonderful creamy texture.
Hope you enjoy this soup.
Bon Appetit or, as the Greeks say, Καλή όρεξη!
Greek Fasolada (White Bean Soup)
Ingredients
- 6 T. extra-virgin olive oil (divided)
- 1 large red onion (chopped)
- 3 medium celery stalks (chopped)
- 3 medium carrots (peeled and chopped, divided)
- Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- 4 medium garlic cloves (minced)
- 1/2 t. red pepper flakes
- 3 T. tomato paste
- 1 pound dried cannellini beans (soaked overnight and drained)
- 2 1/2 quarts vegetable broth
- 4 t. red wine vinegar
- 1/2 C. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 C. pitted Kalamata olives (chopped)
- 1/2 C. feta cheese (crumbled)
Directions
- Step 1 Heat 3 T. olive oil in a large soup pot. Add onions, celery, half the carrots and 1/2 t. salt and saute vegetables until they begin to brown.Stir the vegetable mixture as you saute. Once the vegetables have started to brown, add garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for about 30 seconds. Stir tomato paste into the mixture and cook for a few minutes until it begins to brown. Add the soaked and drained beans and the vegetable broth to the mixture. Stir. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer partially covered until the beans are tender. This will take about an hour to an hour and a half. Stir the soup occasionally as you cook it to be sure the beans are not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Step 2 Remove about one cup of the cooked beans (no broth) from the soup pot and mash. Return the mashed bean paste to the simmering soup and stir to mix. Add the remaining chopped carrots to the soup and continue cooking the soup until the carrots are tender. This will take about ten minutes.
- Step 3 Remove the soup from the heat. Stir in vinegar to taste. (I used the entire 4 teaspoons in my soup.) Whisk the remaining 3 T. olive oil into the soup (Whisk vigorously to thicken your soup!). The olive oil will thicken the soup and give it a creamy mouthfeel. Season soup with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with chopped Kalamata olives, crumbled feta cheese, and chopped parsley. Cook’s Note: You can used a 15 1/2 ounce can of white beans in this soup. If you do use canned beans, reduce the broth to 1 1/2 quarts and add all of the carrots, onions and celery to the broth at one time. Add the whole and mashed beans at the same time. Simmer the broth, beans and vegetables until the carrots are tender. Otherwise, follow the directions above.
This recipe is adapted from one that appears in The Milk Street Cookbook. You can buy the book here.
