Traditional Greek Bean Soup Recipe Fasolada Recipes

GREEK BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Place beans in a large bowl or pot and cover with fresh water. Allow to soak 8 hours to overnight.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large, heavy soup pot. Cook celery and onion until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
• Drain beans and add to the pot with the onion mixture. Cover with 2 inches of cold water and add tomatoes, parsley, dill, oregano, and basil. Bring to a boil, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat and cook until beans are soft, checking every 15 to 20 minutes and adding water as necessary, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Add remaining 1/4 cup olive oil to the soup and season with salt, pepper, and sugar.

FASOLADA (GREEK BEAN SOUP)

Steps:

• Cook the beans until tender. Drain.
• In a soup pot, add beans and enough water to cover beans plus 3 extra cups of water. Bring to a simmer. Add remaining ingredients, season to taste with salt and pepper, and simmer until vegetables are cooked through, and soup has thickened, about 20 minutes. (greeks like soft veggies, you may want your soup cooked slightly less if you like crispier veggies). This soup only improves over the next few days, so go ahead and make it way before you plan to eat it.
• Note: At the table, I like to serve this with the choice of regular Tabasco, and the green (jalapeno) version, for people to add to their bowls as per their liking. I like a couple of drops of the red Tabasco, and a bit heavier on the green for more herbal notes. Also, for a more European flavour, a generous sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese at the table is divine.

TRADITIONAL GREEK BEAN SOUP RECIPE (FASOLADA)

Steps:

• To prepare the fasolada (Greek bean soup), place the beans in a saucepan with plenty of cold water to cover them. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down to medium and parboil for 30-35 minutes, until slightly tender. Drain in colander and set aside.
• Finely chop the onion, celery and carrots. Add 3-4 tbsps of olive oil in a deep pan, add the chopped vegetables and blend. Sauté for about 2 minutes and add the tomato paste and continue sautéing for a minute.
• Add the parboiled beans in the pan and pour in enough boiling water to cover the beans and little bit more and blend lightly. Place the lid on and simmer the fasolada for about 35 minutes, until the beans are tender.
• Towards the end of cooking time, pour in the remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Boil for a few more minutes, until the soup becomes thick and creamy.
• Serve this traditional Greek bean soup (fasolada) while still steaming hot with a few Kalamata olives and of course some village bread. Enjoy!

FASOLADA - TRADITIONAL GREEK BEANS RECIPE

Steps:

• We put the onions and some olive oil in a medium size pot. We cook until softens. We add the beans and we cook for 3-4 minutes.
• We add the water, we cover the pot, we reduce to medium heat and we boil for 30 minutes.
• We add the celerey and the carrots and we continue to cook for 40 more minutes. It's important during the cooking to always have enough water in the pot and to stir regularly.
• We check if our beans and vegetables are ready (soft when bitten). When ready, we add salt and pepper. We stir. We serve with 1 table spoon of olive oil and lemon juice. Enjoy!
• We can accompany this dish with: black olives, spring onions choppped and salted, any salted meat or fish, smoked herring or country made sausage.
• A link to our blog with the recipe: http://littlecookingtips.blogspot.com/2012/01/white-bean-soup-fasolada-traditional.html.