Roasted Garlic, Tomato & White Bean Soup

Tomato soup reminds me of my Poppa. I’d assume position in the corner by the toaster (and cookie jar). Perched on the kitchen throne—an 70’s orange vinyl stool cushion atop aluminum legs. Elbows on the secret sliding table hidden above the utensil drawer. I’d wait eagerly. It came from a Campbell’s can. He served it hot with toasted, buttery pumpernickel ladyfingers. There was nothing more this kid could ask for. Except dessert—we’ll solute Grandma in another blog post.

Tomato soup was always about the ladyfingers for me. After my recent trip home to Ontario, and a tour of my deceased grandparent’s completely renovated kitchen, I thought I better come up with a version that could stand on its own. Roasted garlic and slow-cooked white beans make this tomato soup a delicious meal in and of itself, and inspiration for Warhol successors. This one’s for you, Poppa!

*Note, the white beans are made ahead and then added to the soup. Below you will find two separate Ingredient and Instruction sections for each.

Part 1

Ingredients: Slow-Cooked White Beans

• 250 g dried Cannellini beans

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/2 a yellow onion, roughly chopped

• 1 large garlic clove

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp dried rosemary

• 4 bay leaves

• 1 cup chicken stalk (or sub 1 cube chicken bouillon mixed into 1 cup boiling water. Vegetable stock or vegetable bouillon works too)

• Enough water to cover the beans by two inches

• 1/2 tsp fine mountain or sea salt + freshly ground black pepper

Soaking Instructions

1. Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with 3 inches of water.

2. Leave the beans to soak uncovered for 8-24 hours.

3. Pour the beans into a strainer and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Discard the soaking water.

Cooking Instructions

1. Warm a medium-sized, heavy-bottom pot on the stove over low heat—call me crazy, but I like to give my incoming ingredients a warm welcome.

2. Now add the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Watch the garlic carefully here as it’s easy to burn it in the hot oil. Now add the cannellini beans, water and stalk + more water (if needed) to cover the beans by 3 inches. Crank up the burner to high. While the beans come to a boil add the thyme, oregano, rosemary, bay leaves and salt. Once boiling, skim off any foam and discard. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours. Taste at the hour mark to see where they’re at. Err on the side of al-dente because they will continue to soften when you add them to the soup. They should be so delicious at this point that you consider skipping the soup and eating beans for dinner. Resist if you can, the soup is worth it!

Part 2

Ingredients: Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup

• 5 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled

• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

• 2 Tbsp tomato paste

• 250 g slow-cooked white beans (from up top)

• 1 large (28-oz) can of crushed tomatoes

• 1 large (28-oz) can of cold water (fill the crushed tomato

• 1 cup chicken or vegetable stalk—use the same as you did in the beans

• 1/2 tsp mountain or sea salt

Instructions

1. Smash the garlic—lay your chef’s knife flat on top of a single clove of garlic. Assertively hit the horizontal blade with your palm. Remove the loose peel. Repeat with the remaining cloves.

2. Warm the pot on medium-low heat, then add your olive oil. Add the smashed garlic and cook until it begins to golden. Stay by the stove. Stir occasionally. Burnt garlic is bitter, and tomato soup should be a touch sweet ;).

3. Add the red pepper flakes and tomato paste. Cook and stir for another 2 minutes. The paste may get chunky—don’t worry about it—you can break it up with the back of your spoon a bit.

4. Add the Slow-Cooked White Beans (from Part 1 of this recipe), the crushed canned tomatoes, 1 can of water (don’t rinse the tomato can—fill it up and dump it in the soup pot), the stalk and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. For this next step you have permission to freestyle. I like to remove 1/3 to 1/2 of the soup, blitz it with my hand blender and then add it back for a part creamy, part chunky texture. If you like chunky soups, omit this step. If you like a combination of textures, try my reco. If you like silky smooth, blitz the whole damn thing. FYI—the more you blitz, the lighter in colour the soup will become (white beans + red soup + blitzing = pinky-orange soup)

6. If you removed and blended part of the soup, now add it back. Adjust sweetness, acidity, salt and pepper to taste. 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup or cane sugar work well to sweeten, and lemon to brighten if desired.

7. Ladle away and garnish with raw or toasted pumpkin seeds, a good dollop of full-fat plain yogurt, fresh parsley and a drizzle of flax oil + a kiss of Maldon salt. Makes 4 hearty servings, or 5 weekday lunch portions.

I’ve been experimenting with seed cycling for hormonal balancing. Pumpkin and flax seeds/oil boost estrogen levels during the first half of the moon cycle, while sunflower and sesame seeds/oil boost progesterone in the latter half. If you’re curious, try it out. Otherwise, garnish as you like. Other options—substitute yogurt for crumbled feta, or enjoy dairy free.