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Hearty White Bean Soup - Fasolatha

Traditional Greek soup of white beans, celery and carrots in a tomato sauce sauce broth and flavored with pungent fresh herbs and sweet onion and garlic.
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Prep Time 8 hours 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine Greek
Servings 8

Equipment

  • Pressure Cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb small white beans navy or great northern
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 3 celery sticks, diced use the leaves as well
  • 1/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
  • 1 8oz can tomato sauce
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 handfuls baby spinach, chopped optional
  • water

Instructions
 

  • Soak your beans overnight or at least 8 hours.
  • Prepare all of your ingredients by washing, peeling, chopping and dicing the onion, garlic, celery, carrots and spinach.
  • Saute your onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent, about 3 minutes.
  • Add your diced celery and carrots and mix until well incorporated. Saute for just a moment to help release their flavors.
  • Add the tomato sauce, parsley, salt and pepper, oregano and beans. Give a good mix.
  • Add enough water to the pot so that the beans are covered. It's always better to have too much water than not enough. If you run out of water, your beans will burn and stick. I add enough water so that the beans are covered and the water level is about 1/2 inch above the line of the beans.
  • Bring to a boil on high heat. When boiling, mix in your chopped spinach.
    For the pressure cooker: when boiling, cover and pressurizer the pressure cooker. Once pressurized, reduce heat to low and let it cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, shut off the heat and release the pressure. Once opened, give the soup a good stir and check your water level. If it's too watery, bring it back to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until more liquid has been reduced. This soup has a thicker texture - see the pictures in this blog post.
    For a regular pot on the stove: bring the pot a boil and then reduce your heat to low. Simmer the beans for 60-90 minutes, stirring occassionally to prevent sticking. Keep an eye on your water level. If the water level drops too low before your beans are ready, keep adding a little water and simmering until your beans are done cooking.