Zuppa di Fagioli e Scarola
Bean and Escarole Soup

Prep time: 10 mins | Total time: 2 hours | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 300g (10 oz) cooked cannellini or borlotti beans and the water they were cooked in
• 1 head escarole (or another curly bitter lettuce)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 small chilli peppers
• Olive oil

Directions

• Boil the lettuce in plenty of boiling, salted water. Squeeze the water out, and chop it finely.
• Stir fry the garlic (whole) and the chilli peppers in a good swoosh of olive oil.
• Add the cooked lettuce and cook for a little while, so that the lettuce takes on the flavours of the oil.
• Add the cooked beans and 2 cups of the water they were cooked in. Cook on a low flame for 10-15 minutes.
• Serve with warm bread or toast, rubbed with raw garlic.

Notes

• To cook the beans, soak overnight in plenty of cold water. Discard this water and cook on a low heat for approximately an hour and a half, until tender.
• Cooking with pieces of kombu seaweed improves the digestibility of legumes/pulses.