This is one of those soups that doesn’t really feel as though it needs a recipe. It’s the sort of thing I make on a Sunday, using simple ingredients I nearly always have in the kitchen, and it changes slightly depending on what needs using up.
I always have plenty of organic vegetables in the fridge, usually from my Riverford and Abel & Cole deliveries. For me, they have such amazing flavour that you really don’t need to do very much to them. A good onion, a couple of carrots and some celery gently softened in olive oil make the perfect starting point for this soup.
At its heart, it’s a simple white bean soup with chicken stock and a little winter savory. If I have some fresh French beans in the fridge, I chop those into little pieces and throw them in too.
For the white beans, I usually use Bold Beans cannellini beans. They are, in my opinion, the best beans and taste amazing. I drain them before adding them to the pan. You can also make this with butter beans, which are delicious and give the soup an even softer, creamier texture.
There’s one little trick I always do towards the end. Just before serving, I take the back of my spoon and squash some of the beans against the side of the saucepan. Stir them back into the broth and they naturally thicken it, making the soup feel richer and more substantial without needing flour or cream.
And then there are the tiny pasta stars. ⭐ I cook the stelline separately in salted water and put them straight into the bottom of each bowl before ladling the soup over the top. Apart from looking rather lovely, this stops the pasta sitting in the saucepan and soaking up all that delicious broth.
A final scattering of fresh parsley adds a little freshness and colour.
It’s simple, warming and full of flavour. Proper Sunday soup made from really good ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 organic onion, finely chopped
- 2 organic carrots, diced
- 2 organic celery sticks, diced
- A good splash of olive oil
- A few sprigs of winter savory
- 1 jar Bold Beans cannellini beans or butter beans, drained
- Approximately 1–1.25 litres chicken stock
- A handful of fresh French beans, optional, cut into roughly 1 cm pieces
- Stelline pasta, approximately 30–40g per person
- A handful of fresh parsley, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method
1. Start with the vegetables
Heat a good splash of olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat.
Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook gently for around 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened. You’re not looking to brown them, just soften them slowly and bring out their flavour.
2. Make the soup
Add the winter savory, then pour in the chicken stock.
Tip in the drained cannellini or butter beans. If you’re using fresh French beans, add those too.
Bring everything to a gentle simmer and cook for around 20–30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the flavours have had time to come together.
3. Thicken it naturally
Towards the end of cooking, use the back of a spoon to squash some of the white beans against the side of the saucepan.
Stir the mashed beans back through the soup. They will disappear into the broth and give it a lovely natural thickness while still leaving plenty of whole beans for texture.
Taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed. Remove the winter savory stems before serving.
4. Cook the stelline
While the soup is finishing, bring a separate saucepan of well-salted water to the boil.
Add the stelline and cook according to the packet instructions until just tender, then drain.
5. Serve
Spoon some of the cooked stelline into the bottom of each bowl.
Ladle the hot white bean soup generously over the pasta and finish with a good sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley.
Serve straight away, preferably with some good bread alongside for mopping up the broth.
A little note for leftovers
If you have any soup left, keep the stelline separate and add it when you reheat each portion.
Otherwise those innocent-looking little stars will quietly drink your soup overnight and you’ll open the fridge to discover you’ve accidentally made pasta casserole. ⭐
