Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Mediterranean White bean soup (Fassoulatha)


Fassoulatha is a Mediterranean soup made with white beans, celery, carrots, onions and tomatoes.Until recently I had neither heard of nor tasted this soup. The first time I saw a reference to this soup was on Curry Leaf's site here . Since I am always looking for soup recipes especially hearty soups such as this one, and the description and simplicity of the soup appealed to me, I decided to make it soon. Conveniently for me I had everything required for the soup at hand and this soup featured in my kitchen very soon after I saw it for the first time.In addition to curry leaf's recipe I also referred to another recipe for this soup here 

This delightful soup turned out to be hearty and filling, making it perfect for the really cold days we are having these days. And the best part about this soup is that it does not require a whole lot of exotic ingredients making it simpler and easier to make. 

Mediterranean White Bean Soup



Ingredients and method to make White bean soup

1 yellow onion chopped fine
2 large carrots cut into half inch pieces
2 stalks of celery
2 small bay leaves
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika ( or according to taste)
1 tomato cut fine
1 cup dried white beans soaked overnight with a pinch of soda (soda is optional)
3 cups of water
salt to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
Fresh ground pepper to taste (optional)
Retain a few celery leaves for garnish

Drain the soaked white beans and add fresh water to it and drain again.

Place the beans along with fresh water in a large heavy bottomed pan, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer on medium heat until cooked. 

Keep the cooked beans aside.

Heat oil in the same pan and add the chopped yellow onions and saute until the onions are transparent.

Ad the chopped tomato and saute until tomatoes are soft and mushy.

Add the balance of the vegetables, all the spices, salt to taste, sugar and water and let it simmer until the vegetables are cooked and slightly soft.

Add the cooked beans to this,Add water if required to achieve required consistency and let it simmer for another ten or so minutes.

Garnish with celery leaves and fresh ground pepper and serve hot with bread of choice on side.

Serves about 3-4

This soup is off to My Legume Love Affair, the seventh helping being hosted by Srivalli and originally started by Susan 


45 comments :

CurryLeaf said...

Lovely Usha,you actually enhanced it by adding bayleaves and brownsugar.The garnish part is great.I always avoid garnish :D
Great dear,and THANKS for trying it out.

anudivya said...

Pretty warm and healthy. I remember seeing in Curry Leaf's blog too... I need to make this now that it is popular.

Anonymous said...

healthy and tasty... like you said, excellent for the cold weather :)

Sumathi said...

Looks pretty warm and healthy ..

Varsha Vipins said...

Looks like a comfort bowl..:)

Cham said...

Looks pretty filling this soup, great for winter.

Anonymous said...

Usha,the soup gives that soothing feel..yummy too i guess.

Sara said...

I love white bean soup, I've made it in so many different ways. Yours looks great!

Sharmila said...

That soup looks healthy and delicious. Good one Usha! :-)

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

umm looks delicious.. hearty meal.Happy pongal Usha.

Unknown said...

that bowl of soup looks so yummy and comforting ..

Pam said...

I am a big fan of white beans. this soup looks and sounds delicious. Perfect for a cold day.

LifenSpice said...

looks so comforting and healthy for the winter. Great entry!

Shama Nagarajan said...

delicious yummy soup.............

Rajani Mani said...

hey hearty soup is the word. bookmarking it for my diet that's on from next week! its always next week! hehehhe

Jaishree Iyer said...

Looks warm , healthy n tasty usha ..Great entry!

miss v said...

white beans are one of my favourites - nice!

AnuSriram said...

Looks awesome! Healthier too...

Laavanya said...

That looks so comforting & filling...

Finla said...

That bowl of soup looks so delicious.
Excelent for the winterevenings.

Deepthi Shankar said...

wow thatz such a warmer for winter nights, looks delicious Usha

Anonymous said...

Love all bean soup. They are so healthy & always tastes good. I remember seeing this in Curry Leaf's blog.

Unknown said...

Very nice entry for the event, white bean looks good in the soup.
Very comforting...

Sum Raj said...

looks tempting and perfect on cold weathers..

Lisa Turner said...

A perfect soup for the freezing cold weather we have been having. Hopefully you will have the time to submit something to this month's No Croutons Required. Your recipes are always appreciated.

aTxVegn said...

Hi, Usha! Your soup and ALL of your recent posts look amazing. I've got plenty of these bookmarked so I can give them a try.

Nithya Praveen said...

This reminds me of the Minestrone soup...looks good...n am sure wud be tasty too.:)

Vijitha said...

healthy n yummy Usha!

Dershana said...

thank you for your wishes, dear. this soup looks like it can definitely go into my one-dish meal quest :-)

J said...

Everyone needs a comforting soup for the winters...this one sounds good.

Navita (Gupta) Hakim said...

http://cooking-up-a-storm-zaayeka.blogspot.com/2009/01/simple-cheese-bruschetta.html

Plz accept my appreciation :)

Gita Jaishankar said...

Such a hearty soup, I too make soups almost daily these days, this is one such soup I must try soon, looks so delicious :)

Mangala Bhat said...

hey Usha ...Thanks for comment on my blog .Your soup looks very healthy .Thanks for sharing

Deepa Hari said...

Lovely Soup Usha...looks healthy and yum.

Archy said...

Perfect for this cold weather out there.. Looks tempting !!

Hey, Why to add soda while soaking beans?? Any specific reason for that ??

Madhavi said...

Lovely soup and looks mouthwatering yummmm!!!!

Usha said...

CL, thanks for dropping by, we really enjoyed the soup quite a bit, thanks for introducing me to this soup :-)

Divya, Indhu, Sumathi, Varsha and Cham, thanks for visiting and your comments :-)

Usha said...

Ann, Sara and Sharmila thanks for visiting, hope to see you here soon:-)

Usha said...

Mahimaa, Thanks and wish you a very happy pongal too :-)

Sowmya, Pam and Keerthana, Thanks!


Shama, Rajani, Jaishree, Miss V, Anu, Laavanya,HC, Deesha and Soma, Thanks for visiting and for your comments :-)

Usha said...

Madhu and Suma, thanks :-)

Usha said...

Lisa, thanks for visiting, I would love to contribute to this months no croutons required event,will try and send something over soon :-)


Atxvegn, thanks for dropping by, do let me know if you try this recipe!


Nithya, Vij, Dershana and Jyothsna Thanks :-)

Usha said...

Navita thanks so much for the award, I am really touched that you thought of me :-)


Gita, do let me know if you try this...this weather definitely makes me want to make soups far more often....

Mangala and Deepa, Thanks :-)

Usha said...

Hey Archy thanks for visiting...the reason I add a pinch of soda while soaking beans is that I have read that doing so makes the beans softer and easier to cook and also makes it more easy to digest...

Thanks for visiting Madhavi, hope to see you here more often :-)

Archy said...

Usha,
Wow, dats nice.. So next time i need to add soda while soakng beans..Thank you for ur respond !!

Anonymous said...

This soup is packed full of nutrients, it looks so flavorful :)!

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