Why this recipe works our version of acquacotta, one of Italy’s traditional soups, features creamy cannellini beans, faintly bitter escarole, tender fennel, and chopped tomatoes. Though acquacotta translates as “cooked water,” we used chicken broth and amped up the flavor with a soffritto, a mixture of sautéed onion, celery, and garlic. We thickened the broth with the bean canning liquid and egg yolks and ladled our finished soup over toasted bread, turning a humble vegetable soup into a hearty one-bowl meal. We prefer Pecorino Romano here, but Parmesan can be substituted, if desired. If your cheese has a rind, slice it off the wedge and add it to the pot with the broth in step 3.
SERVES: 8 to 10
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
SOUP:
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 fennel bulb, 2 tablespoons fronds minced, stalks discarded, bulb halved, cored, and cut
into ½-inch pieces - 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained with liquid reserved, beans rinsed
- 1 small head escarole (10 ounces), trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 2 large egg yolks
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano
- Grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- Lemon wedges
TOAST:
- 10 (½-inch-thick) slices thick-crusted country bread
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
- For the soup Pulse onion, celery, and garlic in food processor until very finely chopped, 15 to 20 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Transfer onion mixture to Dutch oven. Add tomatoes and their juice to now-empty processor and pulse until tomatoes are finely chopped, 10 to 12 pulses; set aside.
- Stir oil, ¾ teaspoon salt, and pepper flakes into onion mixture. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until light brown fond begins to form on bottom of pot, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, increase heat to high, and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is very thick and rubber spatula leaves distinct trail when dragged across bottom of pot, 9 to 12 minutes.
- Add broth and fennel bulb to pot and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until fennel begins to soften, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in beans and escarole and cook until fennel is tender, about 10 minutes.
- Whisk egg yolks and reserved bean liquid together in bowl, then stir into soup. Stir in parsley, oregano, and fennel fronds. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- For the toast Adjust oven rack 5 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Place bread on aluminum foil–lined rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Broil until bread is deep golden brown.
- Place 1 slice bread in bottom of each individual serving bowl. Ladle soup over toasted bread. Serve, passing Pecorino and lemon wedges separately.
