Parmesan Broth with Kale and White Beans

Parmesan Broth with Kale and White Beans
Parmesan Broth with Kale and White Beans
From Smitten Kitchen: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/01/parmesan-broth-with-kale-and-white-beans/ (Broth adapted from Jennifer Perillo) I’ve read for years that when making minestrone or other Italian soups, you cannot go wrong with throwing in an old Parmesan rind for flavor. And I’ve done it here and there, but it’s never changed my life. Meanwhile, I spent a spectacular amount of time obsessing over a chicken broth-based at Maialino shortly after it opened, trying to figure out what they’d done to elevate the chicken stock to nothing short of what I imagine crack would be like? Okay, maybe I’m reaching a little. Nevertheless, I hadn’t put two and two together until just a couple days before this dinner party, when In Jennie’s Kitchen shared a recipe for parmesan brodo — a broth made almost entirely from parmesan rinds — and I could not get it out of my head. The result was the most luxurious, rich and loud broth I’ve ever made. It’s said you can use it for risotto or heartier soups, but I wouldn’t dare. It’s too amazing just puddled plain on a spoon. Instead, I tried to enlist its inherent amazing-ness to add life to more earnest ingredients — white beans, plus their bean cooking broth (more soup nirvana for you there, trust me), and ribbons of kale. We were having a good amount of pasta for dinner, so I wanted to lay off the noodles (although tortellini would be wonderful in a soup like this) but I did float a thin slice of toasted baguette on top, which we then drizzled with the olive oil I smuggled back from Rome some 84 degrees and 8 months ago, and yes, some grated Parmesan.
  • Preparing Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Served Person: 1
vegetarian white meat free tree nut free nut free contains gluten red meat free contains fish shellfish free contains dairy pescatarian
  • salt to taste
  • 6 cups water
  • broth
  • to serve
  • 3 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
  • 8 ounces cheese rinds any paper at the ends removed
  • 1 large onion peeled and quartered
  • 1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns
  • handful of flat-leaf parsley
  • note: i usually double this.
  • 2 to 3 ounces tuscan kale
  • (also known as black or lacinato kale
  • this is the thinner flatter leaf variety) washed and patted dry
  • 1 1/4 cups cooked white beans
  • (from about 1/4 pound dried) with their cooking liquid if fresh
  • (usually about 1 1/2 cups)
  • thin slices of baguette toasted
  • olive oil and parmesan for serving
  • Carbohydrate 40.011305 g
  • Cholesterol 0 mg
  • Fat 1.47953 g
  • Fiber 9.51324995231628 g
  • Protein 5.564175 g
  • Saturated Fat 0.30915 g
  • Serving Size 1 1 Recipe (2291g)
  • Sodium 4312.06200004808 mg
  • Sugar 30.4980550476837 g
  • Trans Fat 0.45468 g
  • Calories 153 calories

Make the broth: Bring all broth ingredients to a boil in a large pot, then reduce it to a simmer. Simmer for one hour. Pour broth through a strainer. Your yield should be approximately 4 1/2 cups. You can use this right away or cool it before storing it. Turn the broth into soup: Prepare kale by removing tough stems and center rib (I often use kitchen shears for this), then cutting the leaves into thin ribbons. Add them to the broth, along with the beans. Add bean cooking liquid if you wish; this not only stretches the intense parmesan broth further but adds a gorgeous extra depth to the soup. Simmer ingredients together for 10 minutes, until kale leaves wilt and beans are warmed through. To serve: Ladle a small amount of beans, kale and broth into a bowl. (It’s so rich, we like it in smaller portions.) Top with a slice of toasted baguette. Drizzle baguette and soup lightly with your favorite olive oil and grate some fresh parmesan cheese over. Eat immediately.

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