A hearty and healthy vegetable bean soup, featuring lots of Fall vegetables. A perfect way to celebrate harvest vegetables.
We are having some beautiful Fall weather here in Muskoka. The leaves are changing colour quickly and despite frost in the mornings, the days are warming up to perfect sweater weather. It’s a great day for soup and what could be better than a soup that celebrates the wealth of fresh, local vegetables still available at the market.
This healthy harvest soup features white beans with onions, carrots, butternut squash, oven-roasted roma tomatoes and spinach. I sauteed a bit of pancetta with the vegetables, but that’s totally optional. In the background is a bit of heat, from a red chili pepper and some cayenne, along with some other herbs.
Cook’s Notes
You can make this soup with vegetable or chicken broth. I prefer the chicken for the flavour, but vegetable broth is great for a vegetarian option.
If you have the time, you can cook dried white beans ahead or use canned, for a quicker soup.
If you happen to have some left-over chicken, it would be a perfect addition to the pot.
Serve this with a crusty bread for a hearty and healthy lunch or dinner.
Top Tip! If you’d like a thicker soup, puree it a bit with an immersion blender (just a bit, so you still have some chunks of vegetables) or if you don’t have an immersion blender, remove about 2 cups, run through the blender and return to the soup.
Stir in the chopped, roasted tomatoes and spinach and cook, stirring, just until the tomatoes are warmed and the spinach is wilted.
Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Be sure to salt sufficiently to really bring out the great flavours.
Get the Recipe: Harvest Vegetable and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 5 roma tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1/3 cup pancetta, or bacon, diced
- 1 red chili pepper, cored, seeded and diced (can substitute jalapeno)
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 1/2 cups carrots, diced
- 1 1/2 cups butternut squash, diced
- 6 cups chicken broth, or vegetable broth
- Chunk of Parmesan rind
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 cups cooked white navy beans, 2 cans, rinsed, if using canned beans
- 2 cups baby spinach
- Shaved Parmesan, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° F. Cut roma tomatoes in half and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, cut side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes, until shriveled. Remove from oven. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then remove tomatoes to a cutting board. Peel off skin and chop roughly chop tomato flesh. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Add pancetta and saute until mostly cooked. Add chili pepper, onion, carrots and squash. Cook, stirring regularly, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add chicken or vegetable broth, Parmesan rind and spices. (*If using canned beans, add them now). Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer about 20-25 minutes, until the beans and vegetables are cooked. (*If using pre-cooked beans, add them now and cook until warmed.)
Notes
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I just read your About page and learned some things! I didn’t know about your historic kitchen! Is it separate from the main house?… I’m trying to imagine it :)
I’m envious you’re already enjoying frosty mornings! I’m not particularly sad to see summer go :) This soup sounds just perfect for the cooler weather, so many good flavors!
Hi Sophie, No, the kitchen isn’t separate. Kind of hard to visualize, but the rest of the house was kind of tacked on to it (and above it). Someday I’ll take some pictures and post them here. It’s very cozy, especially in winter (not that I’m in a hurry for that just yet).
We are having a beautiful Fall here, which is nice after a kind of suck-y summer. Lots of soup weather!
Soup season is upon us and this looks so comforting, especially when served with crusty bread!
Thanks Laura. It was delicious and did a great job of cleaning up odds and ends of things in my fridge :)