WINTER VEGETABLE SOUP WITH BEANS AND FARRO
Don’t be scared off by the length of this recipe. It’s actually quite simple (really!), and a lot of it is just me being overly chatty, sharing some helpful tips along the way. Making this soup can involve spending an afternoon in the kitchen (but still with a good amount of “hands-off” time), or it can come together more quickly, even on a busy weeknight if you have most of the components already made or prepped ahead. It really all comes down to how ambitious you’re feeling, what’s in your pantry or freezer, and how much time you have (or want) to spend on making dinner: Do you want to make your beans from scratch or use up some canned beans you have on hand? Do you have farro already cooked, or do you need to cook up a batch? (If you start cooking the farro before you begin peeling and chopping the vegetables, the farro should be ready by the time you need to add it to the soup.)
Barley or wheat berries are a fine substitute for the farro if you have trouble finding it. You can even substitute brown rice or a small pasta, such as ditalini or small shells. I always cook the whole grains or pasta (especially pasta!) separately then add them to the soup during the last few minutes of cooking, rather than cooking the grains or pasta in the soup itself. I’ve found that this extra step keeps the grains or pasta from getting too soft and mushy and also from absorbing too much of the broth. Another advantage to using farro in this soup is that any leftover soup keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days and reheats beautifully while still retaining farro’s toothsome texture; I can’t always say the same for pasta. (Have I convinced you yet, farro newbies, to give this ancient grain a try?)
A few more notes I’d like to mention about making soup:
-- I try to use homemade stock (chicken or vegetable) when making this soup; it really does make a difference in flavor. But, truth be told, sometimes I don’t have any homemade stock on hand, I’m feeling kind of lazy, and I want soup NOW. A good-tasting, all-natural, store-bought broth with recognizable ingredients is a perfectly acceptable substitute. I try to seek out a low-sodium variety so that I can better control the amount of salt in the soup.
-- Season your soup with salt throughout the cooking process (e.g., when you add the onion, celery, and carrots, then again when you add the rest of the vegetables), not just at the end. Doing so helps to keep your soup from tasting “salty,” rather than properly seasoned. And keep in mind that your stock or broth will likely be salty, so go cautiously. A pinch of salt at each stage is usually enough.
-- I don’t remember where I originally saw this idea, but I recently started adding a leftover Parmesan rind to my pots of soup, letting it simmer away while the soup cooks, then fishing it out just before serving. It imparts a tremendous amount of flavor to the soup, and I urge you to give it a try! When you reach the end of a wedge of Parmesan, don’t discard it; pop it into a resealable plastic freezer bag or other freezer-safe storage container. Then when you’re making soup, reach into your freezer, grab a rind, and add it to your simmering pot of soup. It’s magical! And if you want to try this idea but don’t have any spent Parmesan rinds, look for containers of Parmesan rinds for sale in the cheese section of your local grocery store. (My local Whole Foods Market sells containers of two or three rinds for a couple of dollars.)
Barley or wheat berries are a fine substitute for the farro if you have trouble finding it. You can even substitute brown rice or a small pasta, such as ditalini or small shells. I always cook the whole grains or pasta (especially pasta!) separately then add them to the soup during the last few minutes of cooking, rather than cooking the grains or pasta in the soup itself. I’ve found that this extra step keeps the grains or pasta from getting too soft and mushy and also from absorbing too much of the broth. Another advantage to using farro in this soup is that any leftover soup keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days and reheats beautifully while still retaining farro’s toothsome texture; I can’t always say the same for pasta. (Have I convinced you yet, farro newbies, to give this ancient grain a try?)
A few more notes I’d like to mention about making soup:
-- I try to use homemade stock (chicken or vegetable) when making this soup; it really does make a difference in flavor. But, truth be told, sometimes I don’t have any homemade stock on hand, I’m feeling kind of lazy, and I want soup NOW. A good-tasting, all-natural, store-bought broth with recognizable ingredients is a perfectly acceptable substitute. I try to seek out a low-sodium variety so that I can better control the amount of salt in the soup.
-- Season your soup with salt throughout the cooking process (e.g., when you add the onion, celery, and carrots, then again when you add the rest of the vegetables), not just at the end. Doing so helps to keep your soup from tasting “salty,” rather than properly seasoned. And keep in mind that your stock or broth will likely be salty, so go cautiously. A pinch of salt at each stage is usually enough.
-- I don’t remember where I originally saw this idea, but I recently started adding a leftover Parmesan rind to my pots of soup, letting it simmer away while the soup cooks, then fishing it out just before serving. It imparts a tremendous amount of flavor to the soup, and I urge you to give it a try! When you reach the end of a wedge of Parmesan, don’t discard it; pop it into a resealable plastic freezer bag or other freezer-safe storage container. Then when you’re making soup, reach into your freezer, grab a rind, and add it to your simmering pot of soup. It’s magical! And if you want to try this idea but don’t have any spent Parmesan rinds, look for containers of Parmesan rinds for sale in the cheese section of your local grocery store. (My local Whole Foods Market sells containers of two or three rinds for a couple of dollars.)
Author: Wholesome Family Kitchen
Serves: 6 to 8. (For my family of four—two adults + two hungry kiddos—I can usually get two dinner meals out of this big batch of soup, or one dinner for four plus a few days of lunches.)
Ingredients
- -- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- -- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- -- 1 medium shallot, finely diced
- -- 3 or 4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
- -- 2 stalks celery, diced
- -- 1½ tablespoons dried Italian seasoning
- -- 2½ cups peeled and diced butternut squash
- -- 1 (10-ounce) package of cremini mushrooms, sliced
- -- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- -- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- -- 8 cups (64 ounces) vegetable or chicken stock/broth (homemade or store-bought), plus more if needed to thin the soup (especially if reheating the next day)
- -- 1 Parmesan cheese rind (optional, but encouraged)
- -- 3 cups cooked white (cannellini) beans, or 2 (15-ounce) cans white (cannellini) beans, drained and rinsed
- -- 3 cups cooked farro * (or grain or pasta of your choice)
- -- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- To serve:
- -- Olive oil (optional)
- -- Pesto (optional)
- -- Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, shallot, carrots, celery, Italian seasoning, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper; sauté, stirring frequently, until the onion and shallot are translucent and just starting to become golden, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the squash, mushrooms, garlic, and another pinch of salt and pepper; stir and sauté until the mushrooms start to release some of their juices, about 5 minutes.
- Add the canned tomatoes with their juices, the broth or stock, and the Parmesan rind. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until the vegetables are tender (but not mushy!), about 15 to 25 minutes. (Depending on how large or small you diced the squash, the time can vary.)
- Stir the beans and farro into the soup, and simmer a few minutes more until heated through. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add more stock or broth (or even water in a pinch).
- Remove and discard cheese rind. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve bowls of soup drizzled with olive oil or pesto and/or sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes
* Farro 101: Choosing and Cooking Farro:
As farro has become more widely available, you’ll likely come across a few different varieties of farro in the grains aisle (or bulk bins) of the supermarket: whole, semi-pearled, and pearled. Pearling removes part (semi-pearled) or all (pearled) of the farro grain’s nutritious bran, to help reduce its cooking time. When I can find it, I usually opt for the “whole” (unpearled) farro variety, as it is the least processed and retains its bran, and therefore retains the most fiber and nutrients. However, the semi-pearled and pearled varieties do cook more quickly, making them an attractive option if you’re pressed for time. Alas, the type of farro isn’t always clearly labeled on the package: Some are simply labeled “farro”; others might be labeled “whole” farro or “whole-grain” farro when they are in fact semi-pearled. If you're unsure what kind of farro is inside the package, the suggested cooking times provided on the outside of the package can offer a helpful clue: Generally speaking, pearled and semi-pearled farro will cook in about half the time (20 to 30 minutes) as whole farro (45 to 60 minutes, or more).
Although navigating the wonderful world of farro at the grocery store can sometimes be a bit tricky, cooking farro is relatively easy. It's as simple as cooking pasta; it just takes a little more time. My best advice for cooking farro is simply to follow the package’s directions (some suggest soaking the farro first, which can help reduce cooking time), and start checking and tasting for “doneness” a few minutes before the lower end of the cooking time range given on the package. When it’s done, the farro should be tender, yet still a bit chewy, and retain its structure.
If you purchase your farro from the bulk bins of your local market, you likely won't have any package directions to follow once you get home, so I'll provide some basic instructions here for reference. Most directions for cooking farro follow the same general formula; this is the basic method I use to cook 1 pound of dried farro, which yields about 7 to 8 cups of cooked farro:
Rinse farro in a colander under cold running water. In a large pot, combine farro with enough water to cover by a few inches and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming off any foam from the surface, then turn down the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the farro is just tender and still a bit chewy (but not mushy), about 45 to 60 minutes (or more) for whole farro, or about half the time for pearled or semi-pearled farro. Drain the farro in a colander and set aside until ready to use.
(For this soup, I use only 3 cups of cooked farro, so you can cook up about half of a 1-pound package [8 ounces, or about a heaping cup of dried farro] and have enough for the soup. But since cooked farro freezes well, I like to cook the entire package and freeze what I don’t use in the soup; it saves me time in the long run, getting me one step closer to soup the next time I’m craving it, or a quick side dish the next time I’m rushing to make dinner.)
Vegetarians/vegans: This soup is vegetarian if you use vegetable, not chicken, stock/broth (obviously!). However, if you use the Parmesan rind, it is not technically vegetarian: Strict vegetarians do not eat Parmesan as rennet is used in the production of true Parmigiano-Reggiano. (Learn more here.) If this concerns you, leave out the Parmesan.
As farro has become more widely available, you’ll likely come across a few different varieties of farro in the grains aisle (or bulk bins) of the supermarket: whole, semi-pearled, and pearled. Pearling removes part (semi-pearled) or all (pearled) of the farro grain’s nutritious bran, to help reduce its cooking time. When I can find it, I usually opt for the “whole” (unpearled) farro variety, as it is the least processed and retains its bran, and therefore retains the most fiber and nutrients. However, the semi-pearled and pearled varieties do cook more quickly, making them an attractive option if you’re pressed for time. Alas, the type of farro isn’t always clearly labeled on the package: Some are simply labeled “farro”; others might be labeled “whole” farro or “whole-grain” farro when they are in fact semi-pearled. If you're unsure what kind of farro is inside the package, the suggested cooking times provided on the outside of the package can offer a helpful clue: Generally speaking, pearled and semi-pearled farro will cook in about half the time (20 to 30 minutes) as whole farro (45 to 60 minutes, or more).
Although navigating the wonderful world of farro at the grocery store can sometimes be a bit tricky, cooking farro is relatively easy. It's as simple as cooking pasta; it just takes a little more time. My best advice for cooking farro is simply to follow the package’s directions (some suggest soaking the farro first, which can help reduce cooking time), and start checking and tasting for “doneness” a few minutes before the lower end of the cooking time range given on the package. When it’s done, the farro should be tender, yet still a bit chewy, and retain its structure.
If you purchase your farro from the bulk bins of your local market, you likely won't have any package directions to follow once you get home, so I'll provide some basic instructions here for reference. Most directions for cooking farro follow the same general formula; this is the basic method I use to cook 1 pound of dried farro, which yields about 7 to 8 cups of cooked farro:
Rinse farro in a colander under cold running water. In a large pot, combine farro with enough water to cover by a few inches and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming off any foam from the surface, then turn down the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the farro is just tender and still a bit chewy (but not mushy), about 45 to 60 minutes (or more) for whole farro, or about half the time for pearled or semi-pearled farro. Drain the farro in a colander and set aside until ready to use.
(For this soup, I use only 3 cups of cooked farro, so you can cook up about half of a 1-pound package [8 ounces, or about a heaping cup of dried farro] and have enough for the soup. But since cooked farro freezes well, I like to cook the entire package and freeze what I don’t use in the soup; it saves me time in the long run, getting me one step closer to soup the next time I’m craving it, or a quick side dish the next time I’m rushing to make dinner.)
Vegetarians/vegans: This soup is vegetarian if you use vegetable, not chicken, stock/broth (obviously!). However, if you use the Parmesan rind, it is not technically vegetarian: Strict vegetarians do not eat Parmesan as rennet is used in the production of true Parmigiano-Reggiano. (Learn more here.) If this concerns you, leave out the Parmesan.
Recipe by Wholesome Family Kitchen at https://www.wholesomefamilykitchen.com/recipe-winter-vegetable-soup-beans-farro/