Making soup means you have some time. Some time and some fire.
Question… what’s going on with this Instant Pot? I’m not interested. I like the time it takes a soup to simmer and soften. Isn’t that time enough to have a glass of wine in the shower? Isn’t it one of life’s great joys? Wine in warm water while dinner slowly simmers away on the stove. I don’t know much…. but that is one of life’s great pleasures and no Instant Soup Thing should take that away from me.
I’m obviously speaking from a very stubborn place. A stubborn place without any tangible information about the Instant Pot. It’s probably lovely and comes in very handy. I just like ritual, and shower wine (which is a luxury, I know).
I wanted to offer you some soup today. Hearty, robust (I have slight regrets about using this word), simmering comfort – something to prep on Saturday and make on Sunday for next week. Like you’re a thoughtful person to yourself (they’re calling that SELF CARE these days).
The recipe is casual. Feel free to add more or less of anything you’d like. Use dried beans. They’re more delicious, more satisfying and more human. My trick aside from the dried beans is to also add a can of white beans, blended to smooth with a bit of the simmering liquid and cooked beans. This will turn the soup broth to velvet and make you feel like a soup wizard.
This is my offering. Here’s to the weekend!
How To Have A Big Bowl of White Bean, Kale, and Sausage Soup A Few Days From Now
Here’s What You’ll Need:
1 pound of dried cannellini white beans
a bit of olive oil
uncooked spicy or mild sausage – about 2 links of sausage (about half a pound)
a yellow onion
a few cloves of garlic
a green bell pepper – half of the pepper diced for the recipe, the other half sliced for snacking
6 to 8 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper – a bay leaf if you’re feelin’ it
8 to 10 good clean lacitano kale leaves, ribs removed and coarsely chopped
1 (15 ounce) can white cannellini beans
We’ll start by soaking the beans. They’re dried. They need a bit of attention and time alone before they hit the pot.
Place the dried beans in a big ol’ bowl and cover them by several inches with warm water. You’ll think nothing is happening. They’ll wrinkle and look curious. The’ll plump as the start to absorb the water around them. Let the beans be – overnight is best.
Once the beans have had their time, it’s your time to make soup! Hopefully it’s mid afternoon and you have a free hour to yourself. Maybe your love is perched on a stool talking about what you’ll both binge watch later. Either way, pour yourself a cup of tea or an early glass of wine and savor what you get to do in the kitchen for the next bit.
Chop an onion. Small to medium dices. You’ll want about a cup of diced onion total. Scraps and skin and ends – save them for stock
Mince the garlic.
Chop the bell pepper so you have about half a cup for the soup. Eat the rest, reminding yourself that you like bell pepper.
Where’s your large soup pot? The pot you always make soup in? Place it on the stove over medium heat. Add a glug of oil along with the sausage. Cook it up. Break it up. Crank the heat to get a good crisp on the meat as it cooks through. Spoon the meat into a small bowl.
Yup.
Do you want to drain some of the fat? You can if you’d like. Leave some in the pan. Add the onions and garlic and bell pepper. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Allow to cook down until the onions are translucent, the garlic is fragrant and the peppers have softened.
Add the sausage back to the pan.
Drain the beans and add the beans to the pot, too.
Chicken stock too. Now we’re cookin’ with gas. (I mean… probably. It’s mostly an expression.)
Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to the lowest simmer. Cover the pot and cook until beans are softened. This might take half an hour of so. Plenty of time for a glass of wine in the shower if you’re into that sort of thing. Before you walk away from the stove, give the pot a few watchful minutes to ensure that the simmering mixture doesn’t boil over. Every stovetop and pot is different.
Simmer until beans are soft. You’ll know when the time is right.
Now… in a blender, empty the can of beans – liquid and all.
Ladle in a few scoopfuls of the warm soup – beans and broth. Blend until the mixture is smooth and stir it into the simmering soup! Look how creamy that got! Well done well done!
Add the chopped kale. It will wilt willingly. Taste. Does it need more salt and pepper? Add it. Stir it up.
Enjoy warm for many days to come.
You did great.
Toni
I may or may not have snuck some white wine into this…and I’m not mad about it.
kristin
sometimes you just need a good shower wine sesh (or beer in my case)
Kate
Just made this recipe– it was quite delicious, thanks for sharing! I felt it needed a little acidity, so I hit it (lightly) with some tabasco and lemon juice. First time making a recipe with non-canned beans… I feel like a homesteading goddess.
Libby
I’m usually not psyched about bean soup but something about you being as anti-instant pot as I am makes me want to make this. It doesn’t make sense. Just like my thoughts on the instant pot don’t make sense. It’s fine. We contain multitudes or something like that.
Joanna Salsbury
Hi Joy,
I made this recipe and the soup was delicious! But I think that my bag of dried cannellini beans must’ve been old because some of them just would not cook all the way despite several hours of cooking. Do you have some trick for knowing whether your beans may be too old? I’ve had this problem with white cannellini beans before. When they are fresh they take very little time to cook after soaking. If you have any wise words please share! Loved the recipe. Thank you.
sarah
i made this for dinner last night and to have leftovers for lunch all week. its fabulous :) tastes decadent, and is healthy! thanks :)
Alexis
This soup sounds perfect for the winter nights. Thanks for the recipe.
Alexis| Simple Health Style
https://simplehealthstyle.com
Rachel
Any suggestion on possibly using black beans? Just switch the beans out? Is it really that easy? Haha
joythebaker
Yea! You sure could!!
Lisa
YES. Was just trying to explain to someone the joy of a shower beer on a Friday night when you have no plans. It is the BEST. Also in the same stubborn resist boat when it comes to the instant pot. Still using my mom’s crockpot from the early 90’s and I feel fine.
Chelsea Powell
This looks lovely. One day I can enjoy the ritual and the slow pace of cooking once again. With two little kids and a third on the way the best way to fit in that glass of very important shower wine is to rock the instant pot. Priorities are important right? Otherwise, I might burn my house down.
Sabrina
like your contrarian soup!, that is, non-instant pot, seems like every other recipe I’ve seen lately is insta-pot, and yes certainly a great tool, but can’t possible add the same kitchen aroma as a slow cooked soup does! thank you for this recipe and for the bean tips too!
Allora
You totally had me with your disgust of the Instant Pot (my phone auto corrected it to ‘isnt a pot’). Then wine in the shower- not bath. THEN with the sliced pepper for yourself. I imagined maybe I could be the person on your stool- and a little daydreaming until… Just 6-8 random cups of stock? No, this recipe starts 2 days earlier when you roast two chickens and toss the bones into a pot to make the broth. If youre going to hate Instant Pot (all reasons to hate it are welcomed) then be sure to treat yourself to the homemade broth as well- and the shower wine(s) that go with it.