Balkan-Style Vegetarian Bean Soup with Tomatoes
Nutritionally, beans are one of the most valuable food crops: their protein is close to meat, and bean protein is absorbed much better. All kinds of dishes are made from beans: beans as a side dish, bean soup, various tasty salads. Beans are also great for all sorts of preserves for the winter.
Beans were a staple plant of the ancient world of the Americas.
The indigenous peoples of Peru, Mexico, and South and Central America grew beans and ate them. In Asia, the first mentions of beans date back at least 3,000 years. Beans were also known in ancient Rome. The Romans even made face powder from them.
In the Caucasus, wonderful dishes world-famous today are made from green beans (lobio). They're usually called just that: lobio.
Bean soup, from both dried and green beans, is very popular in Europe. In the Balkans, in Asia Minor and across Europe in general, restaurant menus always feature soups called bob chorba, fasul chorba, grav chorba, zupa fasolowa, supă de fasole uscată, čorba od pasulja, fazuľová polievka. All of them are bean soup. Always an incredibly tasty and wholesome dish, made according to local national traditions.
The bean soup recipe I'm offering isn't complicated. The only important thing is to soak the dried beans in advance so they cook properly. By and large, this soup with a fried vegetable base could be called a tomato bean soup. Although what sets this recipe apart is the use of fresh tomatoes added at the end of cooking.
In the Balkans, bean soup is always made differently. I confess I've never eaten the same bean soup twice. Every cook makes bean soup their own way, and it's always tasty and original.
Ingredients
2 servings
- Dried beans 150 g
- Carrot 1
- Celery root 100 g
- Parsley (leaves) 20 g
- Tomatoes 1-2
- Onion 1
- Vegetable oil 1 tbsp
- Spices: salt, ground black pepper, dried mint and savory, sweet paprika to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- Any kind of beans will do for the soup: white, red, speckled, spotted, striped. Whatever you have. But there's one nuance: it's important that the beans don't cook down into a purée, and it's nicer if the dried beans are pretty and colorful. Purely for aesthetic reasons.
- Soak the beans in cold water for 8-10 hours. This lets you cook the beans without turning them to mush and cuts the cooking time considerably. Bean soup with whole, intact beans tastes much better.
- A celery root is usually too big for soup for two. So just cut off as much as you need from a large root, a piece of 100-120 grams. Peel the celery root and carrot. Cut the vegetables into large cubes.
- Cover the soaked beans with 1 liter of cold water and put the pot on the heat. Once it boils, cover the pot and cook the beans over low heat until almost done. Don't let the water boil hard and bubble. It should be a gentle simmer. Large soaked beans take from 30 minutes to 1 hour to cook. Just taste them to check. Usually, as soon as the bean skins start to crack, the beans are almost ready.
- While the beans cook, make the vegetable and tomato base. We'll make the soup with fried vegetables and a tomato base.
- Peel and dice the onion, the same size as the roots. Peel and seed the tomatoes. To make them easier to peel, you can scald them with boiling water. But by the way, a sharp knife peels tomatoes perfectly well, even without scalding. Chop half of the tomato flesh very finely with a knife. Cut the other half into thick strips.
- Heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a skillet. Fry the diced carrot and celery root together. Fry over high heat, uncovered, stirring often. The roots should start to brown. This will take 5-6 minutes.
- Next, add the chopped onion to the fried roots. Keep frying the vegetables for another 1-2 minutes, until the onion softens.
- Add the finely chopped tomato flesh. Season with pepper to taste, add a little salt and the dried savory and mint, a quarter teaspoon is enough. To boost the color, you can add sweet red paprika. By the way, for those who like it hot, ground hot pepper is quite appropriate.
- Turn down the heat under the skillet, cover and braise the vegetables for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You should end up with a fairly thick tomato base with fried vegetables.
- When the beans are almost done, add the base and adjust the salt to taste. You can add more mint and savory: these fragrant herbs will give the soup a refined aroma and flavor. But add the herbs sparingly, and rub them between your fingers.
- Simmer the soup over low heat for 10 minutes, then add the raw tomato cut into strips. Cook for another 1-2 minutes and take the pot off the heat right away. Some recipes suggest thickening the soup with flour. That's up to you.
- Ladle the bean soup into bowls right away, before it cools, and serve. Be sure to sprinkle with very finely chopped parsley.
- Bean soup is very filling and warms you up wonderfully. I recommend serving it with lightly toasted white bread.
| Serves: | 2 servings |
| Calories: | 52 |
| Prep: | 15 mins |
| Cook: | 45 mins |
| Total: | 60 mins |
| Category: | Soups |
| Cuisine: | Bulgarian cuisine |
| Rating: |
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4.9
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