Fasolada – Greek White Bean Soup
Fasolada is a Greek white bean soup that hails from Greece. As most countries have some signature version of bean soup. Italy claims fame with Pasta al Fagioli and India keeps things forever aromatic with Curried Dal, to name a couple. This simple yet delightful peasant dish of white beans stewed in a hearty tomato kissed broth is proudly owned by Greece.
The trick is to cook it for at least one hour, until the beans and vegetables are melt in your mouth soft. These vegetables are the classic mirepoix or sofrito as some countries call it. They are onions, carrots and celery. Use more onion than carrot and celery. The classic ratio is 50% onion, 25% carrot and 25% celery. It’s the mixture that is the bones of all classical cooking.
Can I Use Canned Beans for Fasolada?
You can swap out the dried cannellini beans for canned ones if your time is limited. On average, many cans in my local grocery stores carry beans in a 19 fl. oz. can. You would need 2 of these cans to equal the amount of beans you would get if you were to soak and cook them.
If your cans of cannellini beans are slightly larger or smaller than this, you can still use 2 cans. These recipes are always a great guide, but you can always teak them to accommodate your needs. They don’t have to be exact, so use your judgement and your fasolada is going to taste great!
Can I Use Dried Dill?
It’s easy to substitute dried for fresh herbs in many recipes, and this is one of them! That is if you choose to add the dill to your fasolada (it is optional). The amount of dried herbs that you use in place of fresh ones is much less, around one third.
If you are using dried dill in this recipe, use 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons.
How Should I Serve Fasolada?
Fasolada is the perfect simple yet nourishing fix for a cold day. I love it so much that I make it in the summer! It goes amazing with a hunk of crusty bread and a simple Greek salad. And if you have leftovers, it’s even better the next day!
I hope you’ll try out this irresistible fasolada soon. If you make it, let me know how it turned out for you!
Fasolada – Greek White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1½ cups dry cannellini or white kidney beans
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions, diced 200g
- 2 medium stalks celery, diced 100g
- 1 medium carrot, sliced 100g
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped 8g
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons VEGETA or similar food seasoning optional
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup tomato, diced
- 6 cups water or vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped optional
Instructions
- Wash the beans very well in a few changes of cold water if necessary. Soak in 3 times their amount of cold water for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse again.
- In a large pot or a pressure cooker, add soaked beans and cover with twice their volume of cold water. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer the beans for 1½-2 hours or until very soft. If using a pressure cooker, cook under pressure for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the pressure to drop naturally. The beans should be very soft. Drain and set aside.
- In a large pot heat the olive oil on high until hot. Add the diced onion, celery and sliced carrot. Add salt and pepper and sweat for 1 minute. Add sugar and VEGETA food seasoning, if using. Sautee for another minute. Add tomato paste and chopped tomato. Stir well then cover and cook over medium-low for 5 minutes.
- Add water or vegetable stock and cooked beans. Bring to a boil then cover the pot and lower the heat. Simmer for 30-45 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft. Add fresh dill, if using. With the back of a wooden spoon, mash some of the beans against the side of the pot until the soup becomes creamy. Do not mash too much however as you still want to leave many beans whole. Adjust with more salt and pepper if necessary (I added an extra half teaspoon of salt). Serve with crusty bread.