Cannellini Cream Soup from Tuscany with Crispy Black Kale and Olive Oil
Grazie to our friends Arianna and Alessio at KM Zero Tours – Slow Travel Tuscany for sharing this recipe.
Winter in Tuscany means hearty warm soups, green and peppery new olive oil, 100% Tuscan cannellini beans and the unmissable Cavolo nero (Tuscan kale).
The most famous Tuscan recipe which include all these ingredients is the “Ribollita” bread soup, but today we’re sharing with you a different, and lighter, version of it: Cannellini cream soup with crispy black kale and new olive oil.
The beauty of this recipe is that you can be creative and compose it however you like. You can mix the cannellini beans and kale together for a fabulous rustic soup.
Or whirl it with an immersion blender for a more elegant presentation like we did, topped with the crispy black kale in the center, or add a few homemade croutons or small pieces of bread on top.
Feel free to use either canned cannellini beans already cooked, or cook your own dry beans.
This takes a little longer but you can control the cook time in case you prefer your beans a bit more al dente.
It’s easy to use dry beans: after soaking them in water overnight, cook 250 grams of cannellini beans for about 45 minutes - 1 hour.
Then you can proceed with the recipe.
Cannellini Cream Soup with Crispy Black Kale and New Olive Oil
Ingredients
1 lb boiled Cannellini beans
3 cups Water
1 lb Black Kale
one Carrot
one medium Onion
one stalk of Celery
Vegetable broth
one tsp Garlic
one Clove
Salt
Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Bread crumbs
Preparation
Cannellini Cream Soup with Crispy Black Kale
Remove the hard ribs of the black kale leaves with a knife. Then wash it in plenty of water. (About 1 lb of clean leaves will be needed.)
Boil a little water in a large pot, salt lightly and dip the cabbage in it.
Cook for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally, then drain and lightly squeeze the vegetables to remove all the water.
Brown a peeled clove of garlic in a pan with a dash of extra virgin olive oil and bread crumbs.
Add the black cabbage to the garlic and let it cook over high heat for a few minutes.
Remove the garlic and keep it warm.
Peel the carrot and onion and wash the celery, then chop them to a medium size.
Sauté the chopped vegetables in a sauce pan or dutch oven with a dash of extra virgin olive oil.
Add the well-drained cannellini beans from their storage water.
Add in a teaspoon of vegetable broth and 3 cups of hot water.
Bring to a boil and cook about twenty minutes.
Season with salt and blend the cream with the immersion blender to obtain a homogeneous cream.
Distribute in individual dishes and add the heated crispy black cabbage. Dress with a drizzle of new extra virgin olive oil and a nice grinding of pepper.