Rev: Tuscan Vegetable & Bean Soup (J/F, 2006)

[Ralph]

Marginal thumbs up.

DW & I both thought it needed something. Her first question was if there was any salt in the soup (1 teaspoon). The only other flavorings besides the veggies are garlic and black pepper.

The recipe notes indicate "it is even better the day after you prepare it," so I'll post an update when I eat the leftovers, but for now, I'd definitely add some hot sauce, or Italian seasonings, or pepper flakes, or something....

[Canice]

It's a nice sounding recipe but I can see where it might be a bit bland. I'll be making this one but I'm sure I'll use chicken stock instead of water :o . I love pepper flakes, and I'll be they jazz it up a bit. Another thing you might do is squeeze a little fresh lemon juice into the soup just before serving; it can really brighten a flat soup.

["CA. Cuisine"]

I, too, thought that this soup needed something. Anything really. I enjoyed the flavor of the vegetables but I'm still going to give it 2 thumbs down. My beans just weren't soft enough. If someone can let me know what I might have done wrong: I soaked them for 10-12hrs. and cooked them for an hour and a half.
As for flavor, I added a good amount of italian seasoning and blended a portion of the soup for texture. Nothing seemed to help. I'm wondering if I'm just too use to the flavor of a chicken or beef stock.

[Canice]

I'm wondering if I'm just too use to the flavor of a chicken or beef stock.

It's funny: We hear a lot about "simple, basic" dishes and "la cucina povera" and it sounds so ideal and often looks wonderful on the page...and in making them, I often find myself thinking "simple or blah?" Not in all cases, of course - but in many.

[Ralph]

My beans just weren't soft enough. If someone can let me know what I might have done wrong: I soaked them for 10-12hrs. and cooked them for an hour and a half.

Funny - I had just the opposite results with the same technique. Mine seemed OVERdone to the point they were falling apart.

[PoppyJ]

I made this on Monday night and was so disappointed. My DH and I both thought the soup was BORING. We added red pepper flakes and tabasco to spice it up. The flavor did not improve the next day either.

My beans were also overdone and I only soaked them for about 7 hours and cooked them for about 45 mins. The problem I had was that my veggies were not tender at all after 35 mins. I cooked it for another 20 mins and they were still on the crunchy side. Not a repeat for us.

[heavy hedonist]

I, too, thought that this soup needed something. Anything really. I enjoyed the flavor of the vegetables but I'm still going to give it 2 thumbs down. My beans just weren't soft enough. If someone can let me know what I might have done wrong: I soaked them for 10-12hrs. and cooked them for an hour and a half.
As for flavor, I added a good amount of italian seasoning and blended a portion of the soup for texture. Nothing seemed to help. I'm wondering if I'm just too use to the flavor of a chicken or beef stock.

Maybe your beans were old-- the longer they are stored, the longer they take to cook. Also, don't salt them while cooking, it toughens them. use plenty of fresh water to cook them in, stir often, and when tasting to see if they're soft, taste a spoonful-- one bean can be cooked perfectly while others are still hard.
Thanks for the reviews, I was thinking of trying this soup, now I know what I'm up against..

[Peggy]

We had this for dinner last night and I would also give it a marginal thumbs up. OK but nothing spectacular. I did make a few changes - added 3 cloves of garlic, extra onions, substituted 1 cup of water with some leftover beef broth I had in the refrig, used 8oz of tomato puree instead of 6oz (the can was 8 oz) - plus I added a teaspoon each of dried basil and oregano. Actually, that sounds like a LOT of changes but they seemed minor at the time! ;)

BTW - I soaked my beans overnight and cooked them for 1 1/2 hours and they were mushy and some were falling apart.

Peggy