Vegan Tuscan Bean Soup

I love a good soup and this one has been on repeat in our kitchen for the last six months or so. We even ate it all summer long. It does however lend itself perfectly well to autumn with celery, carrot and onion as the base. I think maybe we could call this the holy trinity of soups because they make every soup broth taste good. In this soup we enjoy eating them as well though of course along with kale or cavolo nero and white beans. So yummy!

It’s a rustic and hearty soup that is inspired by a Tuscan bean soup. The main difference being that this version is meat-free and uses vegetable stock. The soup is coloured red by a tin of chopped tomatoes which I think is prefect in there to give it a bit of the umami we lose when removing animal products from the dish.

I hope you will all enjoy this soup as much as we do!

Malin x

Tuscan Bean soup

Serves 4-6.

INGREDIENTS:

1 large brown onion

3 medium sized carrots

3 large celery ribs

150 g cavolo nero or kale

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

6 cups of water

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp vegetable stock powder or 1 vegetable stock cube

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried basil

2 cans (460 g drained and rinsed) of cannellini beans or equivalent

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Top with:

Vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast

METHOD:

Dice the brown onion. Chop the carrot into small cubes and cut the celery into similar sized pieces. Remove the leafy part of the cavolo nero or kale from the stem and rip it into bite sized pieces. Chop the stem into small pieces. Finely chop or mince the garlic.

Sauté the onion, carrot, celery and kale stem pieces in 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Semi-cover with a lid to allow the vegetables to steam. You want them to release liquid, soften a little and become glossy. Then add the garlic and sauté for another minute.

Add the water, chopped tomatoes, stock powder or cube as well as dried herbs. Mix well and turn up the heat. Drain and rinse your white beans and add them to the soup.

Bring it all to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the carrots are tender but not too soft.

Add the kale leaves and simmer for another few minutes until it tender and wilted. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve in bowls and sprinkle with some grated vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast.