With the arrival of spring, the market stalls are colored with new vegetables and legumes. Among these we find the broad beans, typical of this period, are a type of legume very appreciated, especially in southern Italy, for its versatility in the kitchen but also for the numerous nutritional properties. There bean soup it’s just one of the many recipes we can prepare. The soup is the typical poor dish of the peasant tradition to taste different types of vegetables, not only as a first course on cold winter days, but at any time of the year. The beans allow numerous combinations, as well as with del simple toasted breadwe can enrich the soup with potatoes, peas or crispy bacon.

Preparation

1

Open the pods, slide your finger inside to detach the beans. Collect the beans in a bowl.

2

Remove the growth, if the bean does not have dark lines, it means that it has been recently harvested, it is therefore possible to consume it even fresh without removing the skin. Small beans can also be left whole, as they have a soft sheath. For dark or very large broad beans, peel by applying pressure with your fingers or using a small knife. Rinse under running water.

3

In a pan heat a drizzle of oil, add the mixture for sautéing, let it brown for 2 minutes.

4

Add the beans, brown for 5 minutes, over medium heat, deglaze with the white wine. When it has evaporated, add the vegetable broth. Lower the heat and continue cooking with the lid on, for about 30 minutes, until the beans have softened. Season with salt, adjust the amount of broth according to the desired consistency. Serve the soup hot with toasted bread.

Accessories

• Non-stick pan
• Bowl

Tips and tricks

• The beans have a good protein content of fibers and water. They are rich in minerals such as iron, potassium and magnesium. They cannot be missing from the vegetarian diet.

• Broad beans are the only legumes that we can also consume raw, in fresh salads or lightly seared to season tasty first courses.

• When we buy broad beans we choose shiny, crunchy, bright green pods. If broken in half we can hear the typical sound, synonymous with its crunchiness. Fresh pods must be consumed within 3 days of purchase, you can dry them, or freeze them after blanching them in hot water.

• We can enrich our soup with cubes of crispy bacon, speck or ham.

• Once the fresh beans have been removed from the pod, they can be kept in the fridge for 2 days, in a container covered with film. Alternatively, we can blanch them for a few minutes and freeze them in tightly closed bags.
• Depending on the season we can find beans on the market both fresh, dried, canned or frozen. To make our bean soup we can use them all.
• Dried broad beans, if peeled, unlike other dried legumes do not require long soaking times, but can be directly immersed in boiling water.
• If we buy fresh broad beans, it will be sufficient to remove them from the pod and then remove the sheath that covers them. If they are small we can leave it.

storage

Keep the bean soup for 3 days in the fridge, in an airtight container.