Tuscan White Bean Soup

5 from 2 votes

This Tuscan white bean soup is a comforting combination of flavors from pancetta, vegetables, and fresh rosemary. This one-pot Italian soup is delicious and nourishing. Serve with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and crusty bread!

Prep Time10

Cook Time39

Total Time49

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: gluten-free, soup

Servings: servings

Calories: 74kcal

Author: Lora

Equipment

1 large soup pot
1 Dutch oven

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for serving
4 ounces pancetta diced
1 onion chopped
2 large carrots peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 cans 15 oz each white beans (cannellini beans or great Northern beans), drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1-2 bay leaves (depends if they're small or large, you could use 1-2 leaves)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Crushed red pepper flakes optional (also, use for serving if you like it spicy)
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese grated (optional, for serving)

Instructions

Heat oil: Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large (10-inch) pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
Cook pancetta: Add the pancetta and cook until it starts to crisp and the fat is rendered, about 4-5 minutes. Stir while it's cooking with wooden spoon so it doesn't burn on one side.
Sauté vegetables: Add in the onion, carrots, celery, cook for 8 minutes. Stir with wooden spoon while it's cooking.
Add Garlic: Add in the minced garlic and stir, and cook for less than a minute (you don't want it to brown or burn).
Add broth + beans: Pour in the broth and the beans. Add in the bay leaf and rosemary sprigs. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 45 minutes. Check the seasoning while it's simmering and add a little salt, if needed, and some freshly ground black pepper, if you like.
Mash some of the beans: Remove the bay leaf and rosemary sprigs. You could either remove some soup (I added it to a serving bowl)leaving 2 cups soup in the pot and mash really well with a potato masher or a wooden spoon. I added back the unblended part to my mashed beans and stirred to combine. OR you could ladle out 2 cups of the soup and blend in a high-speed blender.
Combine the creamed soup: If you blended some of the soup, add it back to the pot and stir to combine. Add more broth if it's too thick and simmer to heat it before serving.
Serve: Transfer to a serving bowl or ladle directly into soup bowls. Drizzle on some extra-virgin olive oil before serving. If you like, sprinkle on some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and crushed red pepper flakes. ENJOY!

Notes

For dry beans: 1 pound dried white cannellini beans
Soak the beans for least 4-12 hours or soak them overnight. Completely cover them 2-inches of water. For each pound of beans, add 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon fine sea salt). Keep in the refrigerator while it's soaking. When ready to cook with them, drain and rinse well in cold water. Drain again. Set aside until ready to cook.
Simmer: IF you use dried beans, you will simmer soup for 1.5 hours. If you use canned beans, simmer for 45 minutes.
Pancetta: If you can't find pancetta, you could use bacon cut into small pieces. Some markets sell the pancetta packaged and already diced. If not, ask your deli for a chunk and you can cut up into chunks. Guanciale also would work if you could find that!

Nutrition