Fasolada (Greek Bean Soup)

evelyn/athens's Note:

Very homey and comforting - especially on a cold day, when you want a more 'stick-to-your-ribs' type soup. This is definitely better made a couple of days in advance, so perfect to make over a quieter weekend to enjoy during a busier working week. The cooking time is approximate as it will depend on how old your beans are, how long you've soaked them, and how you cook them (I use a pressure cooker to cook the beans and then proceed with the rest of the recipe in a standard soup pot).

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1/2 kg dried navy beans, soaked overnight (cannelini beans are traditional in greece)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups onions, cut in small dice
• 1 1/2 cups celery, cut in small dice
• 1 1/2 cups carrots, cut in small dice
• 1 1/2 cups potatoes, cut in small dice
• 1/3 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
• salt and pepper

Possible garnishes

• Tabasco sauce
• Tabasco jalapeno sauce (jalapeno)
• grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook the beans until tender. Drain.
2. In a soup pot, add beans and enough water to cover beans plus 3 extra cups of water. Bring to a simmer. Add remaining ingredients, season to taste with salt and pepper, and simmer until vegetables are cooked through, and soup has thickened, about 20 minutes. (greeks like soft veggies, you may want your soup cooked slightly less if you like crispier veggies). This soup only improves over the next few days, so go ahead and make it way before you plan to eat it.
3. Note: At the table, I like to serve this with the choice of regular Tabasco, and the green (jalapeno) version, for people to add to their bowls as per their liking. I like a couple of drops of the red Tabasco, and a bit heavier on the green for more herbal notes. Also, for a more European flavour, a generous sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese at the table is divine.

Reviews

[Jeri Roth Lande]

I cheated and used canned cannelini beans, which really cut the prep time. Also used 1/2 cup rice instead of the potatoes because I was having potatoes as a side dish. This was definitely a nice comfort soup. My family enjoyed it, but thought it was a little bland.

[Chef #800972]

Another winner by Evelyn!! I tweaked the recipe a bit as I added 1 leak, I didn't cut my vegtables up and pured the whole thing with a blender in batches and then added chopped chives. Just like mom made but added bonus that I can pass it off as a creme of vegtable soup to the kids!

[duonyte]

I really enjoyed this soup. I had soaked the beans overnight and cooked them in the morning, which made it easy to finish this up for dinner. Generally I do not use celery as I don't like the texture, but I've just found that if I dice it very finely, I like it quite well. I used about half chicken broth instead of water, and would add a bay leaf, perhaps some savory or thyme next time to round out the flavor. I plan to add some spinach to the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, as I think that would work out well.