This hearty and satisfying soup is a great way to start embracing more seasonal vegetables and plant-based meals. It contains many of our favorite colorful and healthy winter vegetables, including carrots, celery, and pumpkin, but you can really swap out the vegetables for whatever you can find locally and in season. During the summer months when fresh white beans, known in France as cocos blanc are in season, we shell the beans and freeze them to have on hand come winter. Of course, dried ones will work just fine if that’s what you have available to you. As a novel pasta variation try fregola, the Sardinian specialty made from semolina dough and toasted in the oven. If this is tricky to find just go for any small pasta shape that you like the texture of. Let this simmer away on top of the stove, serve with a crusty sourdough bread and you will be duly rewarded!

ingredients

2 medium onions, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut into thin half moons

1 head garlic, cloves peeled, halved, green germ removed if present

1 leek, white and tender green part only, rinsed, quartered, and thinly sliced

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Fine sea salt

3 carrots, scrubbed and cut into thin slices

4 celery ribs, rinsed and cut into thin slices

4 cups (2 pounds; 1 kg) peeled and cubed pumpkin

1 pound (500 g) fresh white beans (or dried, see Note)

Two 14-ounce (400 g) cans diced Italian tomatoes in juice

2 quarts (2 l) cold water

1 cup (170 g) fregola

method

In the Dutch oven, combine the onions, garlic, and leek, oil, and salt to taste. Stir to coat with the oil. Sweat – cook, covered, over low heat – until soft.
Add the carrots, celery, pumpkin, beans, tomatoes, water, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring just to a simmer over moderate heat. Simmer, covered (so as not to reduce the liquid) until the vegetables are soft and beans are cooked through, about 45 minutes.
Add the fregola and simmer until the pasta is cooked through, about 15 minutes more. Taste for seasoning. Serve in the warmed, shallow soup bowls.

MAKE AHEAD NOTE: The soup can be prepared and stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for 1 month.

NOTE: If using dried beans, rinse them, place them in a large heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water, and set aside for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Drain the beans, discarding the water.

VARIATIONS: Try brightening the soup up with a quick, non-garlic pesto, blending basil leaves with a touch of olive oil and salt in a blender, adding a dollop at serving time.

This recipe was first published in My Master Recipes.

Nourish the Planet is a collaborative series by Patricia Wells and Emily Buchanan. Find our more here about why we think it’s important.