Cook the Book: Zuppa di Fagioli with Rosemary Oil
It's dark and rainy today in New York, and according to Chez Panisse chef and cookbook author David Tanis, "the first cold weather wants bean soup." The success of this hearty Zuppa di Fagioli with Rosemary Oil, excerpted from A Platter of Figs, depends on gentle cooking. Prepare it a day ahead to allow the flavors to meld. If you like, just before serving stir in a few handfuls of small cooked pasta shells or wilted greens.
David serves this soup as part of a robust lunch alongside assorted salumi, pears and parmigiano, and topped off with crisp almond biscotti. He suggests garnishing it with garlic toast "one of the best things to eat." Be sure to use a delicate touch when rubbing the garlic over the toast, and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
Win 'A Platter of Figs'
In addition to excerpting a recipe each day this week, we're also giving away five (5) copies of A Platter of Figs. Enter for a chance to win here.
Zuppa di Fagioli with Rosemary Oil
- makes 8 to 10 servings -
Adapted from A Platter of Figs by David Tanis.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 large onions, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 bay leaves
4 cups (2 pounds) dried white beans, preferably new-crop, picked over and rinsed
2 pounds smoked ham hocks
12 cups water
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, ground fine in a mortar or spice mill
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon Rosemary Oil (recipe follows)
Procedure
1. Warm the 3 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the diced onions and cook gently until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and bay leaves and cook for a minute more.
2. Add the white beans and smoked ham hocks. Cover with the water and bring to a boil. Skim off any surface foam and turn the heat to low. Simmer gently for an hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the ground fennel, red pepper flakes, and a good spoonful of salt. Continue cooking for 1 hour more, or until the beans are quite tender and the smoked pork has begun to fall apart.
4. Taste the soup and season with salt and pepper. Cool to room temperature, the refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.
5. To serve, reheat the soup over a medium flame, stirring frequently. Thin with water if it has thickened too much overnight. Check the seasoning and adjust.
6. Drizzle a teaspoon of Rosemary Oil on top of each bowl of soup.
Rosemary Oil
To make the Rosemary Oil, warm 1/2 cup of olive oil in a small saucepan. Chop about a tablespoon of fresh rosemary and stir it into the oil. Turn off the heat.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
4 Comments:
This sounds fantastic, but I'm wondering about a vegetarian replacement for the ham. I've used smoked paprika in other soups with some success; do you think that would work as well here?
imgould at 4:16PM on 09/09/08
I've used chipotle peppers either ground or canned, to give smokiness to vegetarian dishes. A little heat, yes, but quite manageable.
lemons at 4:56PM on 09/09/08
There is a product called "Liquid Smoke" you can get (here in the south anyway) in your local grocery store..usually in the condiment aisle (worchestershire, bbq, mayo, etc). the maker is Colgin...it has no sodium and lists it's ingredients as "water, natural mesquite smoke flavor, vinegar, molasses and caramel color"...it states that it is "an all-natural product with no additives or preservatives. It is manufactured using a safe, water-based process, in which unwanted by-products are removed." (I'm guessing that would be bits of the wood that they burned to get the 'natural smoke flavor).
Would a vegetarian be able to use that?
I use it for baked beans and in my rib-rubs that are cooked indoors instead of on the grill. I've never tried it as a substitute for smoked meats, but I'm guessing it would work pretty well. Use a light hand though...taste and add...little at the time.
pjacob01 at 2:31PM on 09/15/08
I thought it was interesting that the recipe didn't give any instructions about what to do with the ham hocks after the pork is beginning to fall apart. It's very typical, after cooling the soup, to pull the hocks out, remove the meat from the bones, and pick it free of the huge chunks of skin and fat that usually have begun to peel away from the meat. Then, add the picked over meat back to the soup. Makes it much more palatable IMHO.
As far as vegetarian options are concerned... I think the smoked paprika or chipotle would work (although, if you use canned chipotles, the vinegary flavor of the adobo may not be so great with this dish). But if you are okay with dairy products, you might want to try sprinkling it with a good smoked cheese when you serve it.
LoCo at 2:49PM on 09/15/08