Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Peasant Style Italian Cabbage Soup

This is a simple Italian (or Tuscan to pe precise) soup made with mostly cabbages and cannellini beans.Now Tuscany is supposed to have many variety of greens and this soup is supposed to be made from cavalo (Italian for Cabbage) and even cavalo nero(black cabbage /black kale) or a combo.I have used normal cabbage here and made this dish based on Mario Batali's version here,obviously with changes.


Ingredients:

Cannellini Beans /White Beans(I used): 1/4 cup
Cabbage: 1 cup chopped /1 small head of cabbage

Carrot:1 small
Celery: 1 small stick
Onion:1 small
Garlic: 1 clove

Tomato Paste: 1 tbsp
Fresh Thyme : 2 sprigs (Dried also works) OR as per taste
Bayleaf(I used Dried): 1 small

Olive Oil:1-2 tsp
Salt
Pepper

Accompaniments(optional)
Bruschetta/Toasted Bread
Parmesan Cheese

Preparation:

Pre -soak and cook the white beans in the pressure cooker adding little more water than necessary.Chop the cabbage thinly as possible.Chop the carrot and celery into bite sized pieces.Chop onions thinly and crush/mince the garlic.

Heat Olive oil in a thick bottomed pan/soup pot and add the chopped onion,carrot,celery and garlic and saute until fragrant.This is a soup made with cabbage and beans and the rest of the veggies have lesser role here.In some version I have referenced,there are no veggies at all,but little veg broth is added.I have added little of the veggies and avoided the broth, as this make the soup look more colourful and healthy.Broth also adds flavour,but if added should be minimised as cabbage is the hero here.

Once the onion and carrot and celery start to become tender,add chopped cabbage,little salt and pepper and saute until cabbage starts to cook.This will take aroun 5 minutes.Add thyme(dried/fresh) and bayleaf and tomato paste and stir well so that the tomato paste blends with the soup.Add the beans along with the cooked water and more water if needed and cook for 10-15 minutes till the veggies are completely cooked and the liquid reduces to 3/4th or even 1/2.

Serve with bruschetta/toasted bread/choice of accompaniments ,sprinkling little parmesan cheese on top.

The soup looks very light,but is very filling as it has bean and veggies,but if you like a thick cremy texture,mash half of the beans before adding to the veggie mixture.Thyme sprigs can be added as such or remove the thyme leaves/needles and then add to the soup.If whole thyme or bayleaf is used it is better to remove these before serving.I added thyme needles and whole bayleaf.I served it as such without any accompaniments or Cheese.

This nourishing soup is going to Kim,the Nourishing Gourmet for the Nourishing Soup and Stew Carnival A warm bowl of cabbage soup is travelling to Simona where she is celebrating the Fresh Produce of the Month:Cabbage a event started by Martha,a lovely Italian in US. Since the soup has a lovely legume,white beans it is a warm bowl is also going to Srivalli for the Legume Love Affair-7th Helping, an event started by Susan,the Well Seasoned Cook .

Update:Hearty Thanks to Cham for reminding me.The completely vegan soup (I did not sprinkle cheese) also goes to Vaishali's Its a Vegan World where the current theme is Italian.

27 Comments:

Cham said...

Did u sprinkle parmesan over the soup? If not u can send to Vaishali who is hosting Vegan Italian. Somehow I always end up finding one event for ur entry :) Love the way ur soup is creamy by mashing the beans!

anudivya said...

He he he... Hibernating? Maybe a bowl of this soup could wake me up!

Sunshinemom said...

As always a warm and tasty soup - all I need is a song, a fire going and Sweatha's house:)

Priya Suresh said...

Nourishing soup with cabbage n beans...looks delicious...oh no CL i dunno how am posting daily twice, may be am cooking much :d..

Usha said...

You seem to love soups as much as I do, I find so many varieties of soups on your site....this one too sounds yum and goes into my list to try :-)

soma said...

A lot of soup.. just the weather to have some. I even love holding the warm bowl with my hand. lovely recipe.
Soma
www.ecurry.com

Cynthia said...

That soups look so full of great flavour.

Andhra Flavors said...

Hey It looks different. will try soon..

Unknown said...

always intresting your recipes soup looks so warm and tempting i have all ingredients in hand will try for to day lunch

Navita (Gupta) Hakim said...

we blogger hve such great camarediere...I always admire that.
Cham is also helping me with my subscribe in a reader...know nothing abt tht...:)

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow refreshing and comforting. Looks nutrious and yum.

Deepthi Shankar said...

wow, they look soo fantastic .. yummy & hearty soup

Pavithra Kodical said...

I love this warm and refreshing soup.

PG said...

Sounds lovely! Have to try thi one too. Have got lots of these in my fridge and the beans too. Have been keeping busy. Came to tell you that there is something for you at my blog, please com and pick it!

Yasmeen said...

You certainly are the Soup Queen:).
Oh dearie you are leaving just when I was hoping to meet you,anyways lets stay in touch through tasty blog sphere of recipes:)

DK said...

what did u say? You are not a Idli person????????????????? And yet you have the "Kai vagu"! Man! Thats a killer! Oh well! I will come with my batter every time, ask you to give it a stir and come back to enjoy the fluffiest one the next day :) hehehe

Cabbage is so good for health! The soup esp. I can see myself with something made with puff pastry along with this soup! ummm.....Already I am feeling sleepy, and although my laptop screen is quite big enough to hide me, I dont think it is safe to sleep yet with ppl moving about ;-) word will get out..hehehe

Varsha Vipins said...

wow..thats a comfort bowl..loved that color..luved ur oats bar too..:)

Vijitha said...

Hi ya
Lovely heartful soup dear.
yeah I know how busy one can get during packin n relocatin.

Yes I did take the pics. Have added it in orkut. R u in orkut?

Purva Desai said...

Soup looks simple, yet refreshing and healthy

Recipeswap said...

lovely comforting soup.Bookmarked.

Joie de vivre said...

I have been very into soups lately. They just pair perfectly with cold weather don't they? Thanks so much for following my blog! I was so excited to see you there!

Anonymous said...

I am not a cabbage fan, but you have made it look so good I'm tempted

Sum Raj said...

wooo..healthy cabbage soup under intalin version sounds great..nd thanks for telling me the event...

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

This one looks like maybe I could try it. I like cabbage, I like beans, I don't like soup but without the cheese its what I should be eating.:)

Vaishali said...

I love this delicious and healthy Italian soup, Sweatha. Thanks for sending this lovely recipe to It's A Vegan World.

Simona Carini said...

An inspiring post. I must make this soup soon. Thanks for participating.

Unknown said...

wow..sounds delicious must try recipe. hey..i have found a great site where we can find all the ingredients of italian, french, thai, chinese etc. at one place.
www.myethnicworld.com

Thanks for visiting my Blog

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