Bring a little bit of Italy to the dinner table tonight.
This Italian-inspired Pinto and Great Northern Bean soup combines fresh celery, tomatoes and carrots for a light but mouth-watering dish fit for the old country.
Pinto beans – which are traditionally used in North American and South American cuisine – may seem somewhat out of place in this dish. Not the case, however. The creamy texture of the pinto beans plays strongly as a compliment with great northern white beans’ – which are very common in Italian cuisine – richer, firmer flesh to give this soup wonderful flavor and texture.
Serve with your favorite store-bought or homemade Italian bread for dipping or as a side and top your bowl off with yummy parmesan and zesty pesto. You can use pesto from the store, sure, but we strongly recommend trying our included recipe for basil pesto. It’s delicious and easy to whip together in just a few minutes. Certifiably to die for!
For those of you out there who’s mouth’s are watering but are vegetarian, no worries. This recipe can be made vegetarian-friendly by simply using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 yellow onions, diced
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 cup dried orzo pasta
- 2 cups Randall Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups Randall Pinto Beans, drained and rinsed
- Basil pesto (recipe below)
- Shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sweat the onions, celery and carrots until soft, about 3 minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and cook 8 minutes.
- Stir in the great northern beans and pinto beans and let simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.
- When you are ready to serve, ladle the soup into bowls and stir one tablespoon of pesto into each bowl. Top with shredded parmesan cheese and serve.
Basil Pesto
Yields ½ cup
Ingredients:
- 1 cup packed basil leaves
- 1 garlic clove
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- In a food processor, add the basil leaves, garlic clove, red pepper flakes, shredded parmesan cheese, salt and black pepper.
- Place the lid on the bowl but open the spout for pouring in the oil. While pulsing, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the food processor. Stop halfway through to scrape the sides of the bowl. Continue pulsing and pouring the rest of the oil into the food processor.
- Stir and use immediately or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Meatless Monday is so much more appealing when incorporating this tasty dish featuring Randall Great Northern Beans.
