Jump to recipe
I’m Pioneer Woman. And I’m obsessed with soup.
This delicious take on the simple, classic Tuscan Bean Soup has a nice tangy tomato edge and plenty of chunky wonderfulness…with just a hint of sass. Just kidding about the sass part; I just felt like throwing it in. The soup also contains kale, which happens to be my boyfriend right now. I think my body must have been suffering from a gnarly Vitamin K and beta carotene deficiency, as the way I’ve been inhaling kale over the past few months is somewhat shocking. But I love the way it cooks: it wilts, yes, but unlike spinach, it really holds its own in soups and stews (or even just sauteed in a pan.) I absolutely love it in this soup.
I added sauteed shrimp to the top of the finished soup, which might be a bit weird. Cooked, sliced Italian sausage or even strips of grilled chicken would probably make more sense. But being weird just isn’t something I wake up fearing on any given day, and it really did turn out to be a yummy bowl of soup.
The Cast of Characters: Onion, garlic, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, canned Great Northern beans, chicken broth, kale, butter, parsley, shrimp, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, fresh parsley, fresh basil (if you can get it), and Parmesan (or Romano) cheese. Sounds like a lot…but it ain’t. It’s easy.
Oh, and wine. I would have included it in the photo, but I hadn’t yet retrieved the bottle from my bedside table.
Start by throwin some diced onion…
And some garlic into a pot w/ some olive oil over medium-high heat.
Stir it around and cook it for a couple of minutes…
Then throw in some tomato paste.
Stir this around and cook it for a minute or two, just to fry the paste a bit and release some lovely tomato-pasty flavor, and to get the bottom of the pan nice and dirty.
Next, throw in some red pepper flakes and some dried oregano, then stir it around and cook it for about 30 seconds or so. Maybe 34 seconds. But not 35; whatever you do, do not cook it for 35 seconds!
I’m just kidding.
Next, and this is always my favorite part, pour in a good amount of dry white wine.
Mmmm. Stir this around with a whisk, scraping the bottom of the pan and giving thanks for such a blessed aroma.
Let this bubble up and reduce for a good 5 minutes, or until the wine is reduced by about half.
Then pour in the canned tomatoes, juice and all.
Pop open the cans of beans, and give them a good rinse under cold water to lose all that grody, slimy nonsense.
Pour the beans into the soup, then stir them around to combine.
Then pour in a good amount of chicken stock.
Stir and let this simmer for 20 minutes or so, adding a little more broth if you think it needs it.
While it’s simmering, heat some butter in a medium skillet over medium high heat. When it’s hot, throw in the shrimp and parsley…
Sprinkle with salt, then toss/stir them around to cook until the shrimp are totally opaque and starting to turn golden, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the stove and set aside.
I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Kale. You’d love him. He’s a bunch of fun.
Get it? Bunch?
Don’t pay any attention to me.
Rinse the kale and tear it into chunks, then just throw it right into the pot.
Stir it around and watch it shrivel and shrink and become one with the zuppa.
Sprinkle in the salt. Nice hand, Ree.
Then add some basil. I grabbed a whole bunch of leaves, then ripped them with my own two hands and threw it into the soup. Then I realized I didn’t take a photo of myself doing that, so I grabbed a basil leaf and held it near the pot to represent the fact that I’d just added basil to the soup.
Don’t be like me.
Taste the soup, adding more salt and pepper (or more red pepper flakes for heat) if you think it needs it, then just let it simmer.
When the soup is perfectamundo, add it all to a large serving bowl and top with the cooked shrimp. (Or of course, you can ladle it into individual bowls and place 3 to 4 shrimp on top.)
Oh! And violently tear up some more basil and sprinkle it over the top. The stuff that dreams were made of.
At the end, throw on a bunch of Parmesan or Romano shavings (I used Romano).
And by the way, I love Parmesan/Romano shavings. I love the way they look, I love the way they melt onto the top of soups, and I love what they stand for.
Take a look!
Now go and cook.
Enjoy this, guys! It’s a cold weather keeper.
Here’s the handy, dandy, printable:
