Tuscan-Style Pinto Bean Soup with Kale

Tuscan-Style Pinto Bean Soup with Kale

Italian food has a knack for appealing in all weathers, hot or cold. Light and hearty at the same time, I couldn't resist one more kick at the old bean and vegetable soup can before the summer finally kicks in and lighter dinner fare takes over. And besides this soup looks lovely with a little summer sun streaming in through the window.


Tuscan-Style Pinto Bean Soup with KaleTuscan-Style Pinto Bean Soup with Kale
Recipe by
Cuisine: Italian
Published on April 28, 2009

A light but hearty and healthy Italian bean and kale soup — perfect and comforting

Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 50 minutes to 2 hours

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Ingredients:
  • 1 1/3 cups dried pinto or cranberry beans
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 celery stalks, sliced
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
  • 1 lb (450 g) kale, trimmed and coarsely chopped
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
  • fresh ground black pepper
  • 3 or 4 slices of stale or lightly toasted Italian or Ciabatta bread, cut into crouton-size pieces
Instructions:
  • Rinse the beans and soak overnight covered in several inches of cold water. Drain and rinse. Place the beans in a medium saucepan. Cover with several inches of fresh water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or until the beans are tender but not falling apart. Drain and lightly mash some of the beans with a potato masher. Set aside.

  • Heat a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil, wait a few moments, then swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Toss in the celery, carrot, onion, garlic and chili flakes and cook, stirring, until the onion turns a light brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add the tomatoes and continue to cook until the tomatoes are slightly reduced, another 10 minutes. Now stir in the beans with the kale and add the vegetable stock and water. Bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until the kale is tender, about 25 to 30 minutes.

  • Remove from heat and season with salt and plenty of fresh ground black pepper. Serve hot in wide shallow bowls and scatter with pieces of stale or lightly toasted bread.

Makes 8 servings

Tuscan-Style Pinto Bean Soup with Kale

18 comments:

Indhu said...

oooh.. this looks delicious ... I should also make a thick hearty soup before the cool weather ends :)

eatme_delicious said...

Mmm I was just thinking about making a soup with beans and kale.

Chutneytales said...

Very filling and wholesome soup..I could see that it tastes yum!!

Astra Libris said...

Ohhhh, such a heavenly, warming, nourishing soup! I love pinto beans and kale together - it's a match made in soup heaven...

Juliana said...

WOW, love the combination of the ingredients...I can even taste it!

A_and_N said...

This is super cool on an afternoon alone nad I don't want to cook and I have bits in the refrigerator!

Thanks Lisa. Its been bookmarked. BTW, we tried your scalloped potatoes :) In fact, its in the oven now. Will let you know how it goes!

Lisa Turner said...

Oh, do let me know how the potatoes turned out for you. I am going to soon prepare a scalloped potato recipe with my best ever mushroom sauce soon.

Soma said...

This looks delicious!! My idea of Lunch.

I tried your lentils with tamarind.. but could not take any pictures. It was great!

Ivy said...

This soup sounds delicious. I'd gladly have a bowl right now.

Ulla said...

that looks so healthy! i would even crave that in the summer! light not rustic, great idea!

Peter M said...

Lisa, this soup could appear in a cookbook...fab photo and recipe.

Ricki said...

This would have been so perfect yesterday, when we had such rainy, cold weather!

The site looks great, by the way!

Priya Suresh said...

Wow healthy and filling soup!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

The weather has been quite cool here in the "wild, wild west" so soup would be welcomed:D

Varadero said...

Tuscan food is my favourite from anywhere I have been. The food from every region of Italy is so different and delicious. Tuscany though remains my favourite of all.

Kathy G said...

A Google search led me to your fabulous recipe. I suspect I'll be checking out some of your other posts, too!

Anonymous said...

I found your recipe while searching for pinto bean soup. We used chicken stock and kept the water from cooking the beans. This soup was so flavorful and delicious.

Anonymous said...

Great recipe. A delicious soup, hearty but not heavy. I added ham to mine and it complemented perfectly.