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Greece · Soups

Fasolada

Greek Bean Soup
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Active
30 minutes
Total
2 hours 30 minutes, plus overnight soaking
Difficulty
Easy
Free recipe
Fasolada, Greek Bean Soup

The story

Fasolada, also spelled fasoulada, is the white bean soup that is sometimes called the national food of the Greeks, and it is cooked in Cyprus as well. Beans are a New World food, as cookbook author Diane Kochilas points out, yet she calls fasolada Greece's national dish. The method is plain. Dried beans are soaked overnight, often boiled briefly and drained, then simmered for one and a half to two hours with onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf and thyme until the broth turns thick and creamy. Olive oil goes in generously, and part of it is stirred in raw at the end. Recipes vary from house to house: some cooks leave out tomato entirely, some use lima beans, and some add meat. Made without meat or dairy, the soup suits the forty days of Orthodox Lent, when meat, fish and dairy are given up, and Greek families often eat bean soups on the weekly fasting days, Wednesdays and Fridays. In winter it turns a bag of dried beans into a filling family supper. Put Kalamata olives, feta and crusty bread on the table, and soak the beans the night before so the soup can simmer through the afternoon.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb dried white beans (great northern, cannellini or navy)
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 2 medium carrots, sliced into thin rounds
  • 2 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
  • 8 cups water, plus more as needed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice (optional)

Method

  1. Pick over the beans, rinse them, and put them in a large bowl. Cover with cold water by 3 inches and soak for at least 8 hours or overnight. Drain.
  2. Put the beans in a large pot, cover with fresh water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain and discard the water.
  3. In a 6-quart Dutch oven or soup pot, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring often, until soft but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute more.
  4. Add the beans, crushed tomatoes, 8 cups water, bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, then lower the heat so the soup bubbles gently. Cook, partly covered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring now and then, until the beans are completely tender and creamy inside. Add hot water if the beans poke above the liquid.
  5. Once the beans are tender, stir in the salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes more. For a thicker soup, mash a ladleful of beans against the side of the pot and stir them back in.
  6. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaves. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, the parsley and the vinegar, if using. Taste for salt, let the soup rest for 10 minutes, and serve hot.

Note: The soup keeps for 4 days in the refrigerator and thickens as it stands; thin it with hot water when reheating. Old beans can need up to 30 minutes longer to soften.

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