White bean soup with garlic is a classic comfort dish in the Mediterranean region.
Usually, it's loaded with heavy cream, which also loads up the fat and calories. My version uses no cream, getting its body from extra garlic plus a lone starchy potato, and then blending most of the soup into a luscious creamy consistency. (A few of the beans are reserved and added back in after blending for texture.)
What I love about this soup is that it takes under a half hour to make from start to finish, and I usually have the needed ingredients on hand -- a couple of cans of beans, a potato, some herbs, stock and a little white wine, which I've been known to skip without catastrophe when I don't happen to have it on hand.
With white beans being so full of protein and fiber -- 1 cup of beans has about 20 grams of protein and over 12 grams of fiber yet almost no fat -- this meatless soup is filling without making you feel stuffed.
I serve it with a green salad with a tart Dijon and lemon vinaigrette for a typical Sunday supper that my husband grew up eating in Provence. Or, serve a half portion as a first course, and you'll eat less at your main meal, which means you can stretch your meat budget in a sneaky and healthful way.
Or simply make this soup because it's super easy and comforting -- easing us from cool weather to warmer weather perfectly. A final note: don't let the garlic quantities intimidate you. Boiling the garlic tames the flavor and you'll be left with a mellow, slightly sweet complement to the creamy beans.
Creamless White Bean and Garlic Soup
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small chopped onion, about 1 cup
1 rib celery, chopped, about 1/3 cup
1 medium carrot, chopped, about 1/3 cup
1/2 teaspoon smoked (or sweet) paprika
20 medium cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut into quarters
2 (15-ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed
1 large sprig fresh rosemary (see note)
1 large sprig fresh thyme (see note)
1 bay leaf
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sweat the onion, celery and carrot over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes.
Add the smoked paprika, garlic, salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the wine and stock and bring to a simmer.
Add the potato, beans, herbs, bay leaf, and 2 cups of water. Bring the soup to a boil and let simmer, partially covered with a lid, over medium-low heat until potato and garlic are very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes. Remove and discard herb stems and bay leaf.
Scoop out about a cup of beans and set aside. Use an immersion blender to blend the rest of the soup until creamy. Or, working in batches, blend in a traditional blender.
Add the reserved beans back to the blended soup, adjust for seasoning, and serve.
Makes 6 servings.
Note: Traditionally, the herbs are tied up with kitchen string or placed in a cheesecloth pouch, called a "bouquet garni." (But fishing out the stems and allowing a few errant leaves to be blended up in the soup works quite fine for a quick weeknight soup.)
Nutrition information: Each serving contains approximately 181 calories, 10 g protein, 2 g fat, 32 g carbohydrate (3 g sugar), no cholesterol, 586 mg sodium and 11 g fiber.
Carbohydrate choices: 2.
Food on 04/26/2017