Bean, porcini and pasta soup. Recipe: Julia Busuttil Nishimura. Photo:William Meppan
Ingredients
- 10g dried sliced porcini
- 80ml (4 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 1 celery stick, finely diced
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- small pinch chilli flakes
- 2 x 400g canned borlotti (or cannellini)beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 150g cavatelli or similar small pasta, such as taccozzette, ditalini or maltagliati
- small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- sea salt, to taste Method
- Place the porcini in a bowl, cover with 1.5 litres of just-boiled water and soak for 15 minutes. Set aside.
- In a large pot set over a low heat, warm the olive oil and add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic and chilli flakes with a good pinch of salt. Cook for 12-15 minutes until softened, stirring often. Add the beans and stir to coat.
- Increase the heat to high and add the porcini in their stock and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium. Simmer for 10 minutes or until slightly reduced.
- Avoiding the bay leaves, transfer about 4 ladlefuls of the liquid and beans into a blender and blitz until smooth. Return the blitzed liquid to the soup.
- When the soup begins to simmer again, add the pasta and cook for about 10 minutes or until al dente, stirring often.
- Remove the bay leaves, stir through parsley, season to taste and serve with additional olive oil.
Serves: 2-4
