Fasolada (Greek White Bean Soup)

Ingredients

For 5 portions

• 🫘 720g white beans, canned
• 🏺 5 Tbsp olive oil
• 🧅 2 medium onions
• 🥕 2 medium carrots
• 🪴 2 sticks celery
• 🧄 3 cloves garlic
• 🫑 1 medium red bell pepper
• 🥫 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 🥫 400g canned tomatoes
• 🌿 2 leaves bay leaf
• 🌿 1 Tsp oregano
• 🌿 0.25 Tsp chilli flakes
• 🍆 1 cube vegetable stock cube
• 🥤 1,000ml tap water
• 🧂 1 Tsp salt
• 🍋 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 🌿 1 Tsp dill

Method

1. Drain and rinse the white beans (3 cans of cannellini or haricot beans). If cooking from dried, use 300 g dried beans, soaked overnight and simmered for 1 hour first.
2. Chop the onions, slice the carrots into rounds, slice the celery, mince the garlic and dice the red pepper.
3. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and pepper and cook for 10 minutes until softened.
4. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute.
5. Add the canned tomatoes, beans, bay leaves, oregano, chilli flakes, crumbled stock cube (check it's vegan), water and salt.
6. Bring to the boil, then simmer, partly covered, for 25–30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the vegetables are very tender and the soup has thickened. Lightly crush some of the beans against the side of the pot to make it creamier.
7. Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon juice and dill. Taste for salt.
8. Serve hot in deep bowls with crusty bread, olives and a few slices of raw onion, as they do in Greece.