'Oops, I overcooked the beans' Emergency Bean Soup
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Whether your beans have overcooked and burst through their skins or you just want a terrific bean soup, this recipe, designed for pale yellow Peruano beans or really any variety, is a dinner party savior.
Movie publicist Chris Libby came up with the recipe when he accidentally overcooked a pot of pale yellow Peruano beans, which are thin-skinned and cooked faster than he expected. He’d intended to serve the beans whole with some of their cooking broth as a side dish, but when he saw that the beans had burst through their skins, he changed course and pureed the beans for soup instead. Garnished with a drizzle of olive oil, herbs and a bit of red wine vinegar, the soup was the hit of his dinner party.
Note that the cooking time depends on the age of the beans.
It’s creamy. It’s got oomph. The versatile yellow bean from Peru that Mexican and Italian cooks love
Super-affordable and sold in bulk, Peruano beans are what Pizzana’s Danilele Uditi prefers over cannellini beans for his pasta e fagioli. Mexican cookbook author Pati Jinich loves them too
Emergency Bean Soup
Place beans with carrot, garlic and onion halves plus chile de árbol and herbs in a large pot. Add enough water to cover plus 1/2 cup olive oil. Bring everything to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and gently cook the beans until tender, 2 to 3 hours depending on age of beans.
When beans are cooked, remove the herbs, chile and half of the garlic and onion from the pot and discard. Let the beans cool.
Transfer beans, carrot and remaining onion and garlic halves to a food processor and add enough bean broth to blend without spillage. Blend until smooth. This can be done in two batches if necessary, depending on size of food processor. Adjust the amount of bean broth added for a thinner or thicker consistency, according to taste.
Soup can be made 1 to 2 days ahead. When ready to serve, gently warm the soup, then season it with salt and white pepper. Ladle the soup into individual servings and finish with olive oil, red wine or sherry vinegar and finishing salt.
