By Sarah DiGregorio
- Total Time
- About 8 to 10 hours, plus overnight soaking
- Rating
- 4(3,625)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Parmesan rinds are magic. After a long braise, that hard, waxy scrap infuses the entire soup with its rich, distinctive flavor. Here, they make a wholesome soup taste like an incredible indulgence. So don't ever throw them away. They keep in the freezer indefinitely. The wheat berries here are also a great match for the slow cooker. While they may not be the most glamorous grains, they hold their shape and take a conveniently long time to get tender. You can find them at many grocery or natural-foods stores, as well as online. But you can also substitute farro or spelt (whole grains but not pearled). Just note that they'll cook faster and may end up quite soft after an 8-hour cook time.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 1pound dry cannellini beans, soaked overnight and drained
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 8ounces Parmesan, hard rinds cut off and reserved, the rest grated for serving
- 1cup wheat berries
- ¼cup olive oil
- 1large onion, finely chopped
- 1fennel bulb, cored and finely chopped, fronds roughly chopped and reserved
- 3celery stalks, sliced ½-inch thick
- 6garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 2sprigs fresh rosemary
- ½cup dry white wine
- 6cups chicken stock or broth
- Leaves from 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- Juice of 1 large lemon
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
717 calories; 23 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 87 grams carbohydrates; 18 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 42 grams protein; 1205 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Put the soaked, drained beans in a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker, and season them generously with salt and pepper. Add the reserved Parmesan rinds and the wheat berries.
Step
2
Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, season generously with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the fennel. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the fennel is softened and the onion is lightly browned, about 5 more minutes. Add the celery and garlic, and cook, stirring, until just softened, about 1 minute. Add the fennel seeds and red pepper, and cook, stirring constantly, until combined and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the rosemary and the wine and let the wine bubble until the pan is almost dry, about 2 minutes. (See Tip 1.)
Step
3
Scrape the mixture from the skillet into the slow cooker. Add the stock, and season it: Add ½ teaspoon salt, if you are using low-sodium broth, or 1 teaspoon salt, if using homemade unsalted stock. (Do not add salt now if you are using fully salted broth.) Stir to combine, and cook on low until the wheat berries are tender and the beans are creamy, about 8 to 10 hours. (See Tip 2. Taste the beans to make sure they are creamy; they can vary in their cooking time depending on their age.) The soup can hold well on warm for 1 to 2 additional hours.
Step
4
Before serving, remove and discard the rosemary sprigs. Stir in the parsley, lemon juice, and reserved fennel fronds. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary. Serve in bowls topped generously with grated Parmesan.
Tips
- Sautéing the aromatics in a skillet makes a big difference in the finished soup, giving a caramelized flavor. But if you don’t have time, you can omit Step 2 and simply add everything to the slow cooker.
- Beans should reach a simmer and cook until tender to be safe to eat. If your slow cooker does not reach a simmer on the low setting, increase the heat level to high, and ensure the beans cook at a simmer for at least 15 minutes at some point in the cooking process.
Ratings
4
out of 5
3,625
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Cooking Notes
Zeldie
Slow cooker is for people who set dishes up and leave to work or whatever and come home to cooked food but I am not a fan. You can make this in an hour. Just use a nice heavy pot like le creuset ..follow instructions bring to boil cover w lid put in oven at 325. Check after 45 min. If u have convection use that setting. Viola
rcassens
You can easily make this without a slow cooker and with canned beans. It is delicious.
Janet
I did this tonight in my Instant Pot instead of a slow cooker. I put in unsoaked beans, farro, rinds into the inner pot, did the saute as in the recipe, added it to the pot with the beans/farro with the stock, etc. Cooked it on Bean/Chili cycle for 45 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes, then released the pressure manually. It was great! Less than an hour cooking start to finish, with maybe 15 minutes prep. If you forget to soak the beans or to put it into the slow cooker on time, this is an option.
David
After posting this review my wife mentioned that she thought the soup was a tad too lemony. Shocked, I immediately re-evaluated our relationship and my previous post and came to these conclusions: 1) We're gonna make it. 2) Best to add 1/4-1/2 of the lemon juice at a time and continue to taste. Also, as noted elsewhere, this soup is VERY think. If you want a brothier soup, use 8-9 cups (yes, that much) instead of 6.
gv
Subbed two leeks for the fennel, so delicious!
ChristineRM
Hearty and wonderful! My quicker stovetop version: Added one chopped leek - veggies in the pot first in order as stated in the recipe. Then Swanson chicken broth in the pot and a cup of barley since I couldn’t get wheat berries at my local store. With the broth went the barley and a 1” x 2” Parmesan rind. I let the barley simmer for 1/2 hour before adding 2 15 oz cans of drained, rinsed white beans. Finished as stated. Healthy dose of salt and pepper. 1.5 hours start to finish - perfection!!
DPChurch
That old tip about not salting beans until after they are cooked, turns out to be a myth. Kenji Lopez-Alt at Serious Eats did one of his very methodical experiments to find out if it was true. It's worth reading.https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/09/salt-beans-cooking-soaking-water-good-or-bad.htmlI've started salting the bean soaking water and the cooking liquids, and it makes a huge difference to flavour of beans. (Same idea as salting water for cooking pasta or potatoes.)
Mara
Just a tiny hint about the parm rinds (I buy them when I see them at my local cheese provider and save them from hunks of Parm til I have a few pounds). If you use them for Parm stock or in this lovely soup you may want to put them into a cheesecloth bag suspended in the simmering stock, it will help with clean-up afterward. Otherwise the Parm may stick to to bottom of the pot making cleanup more burdensome. The reason for rinds is cost—if you cannot find them, throw in a little extra chees
Nate V
1 lb of dry beans is approximately equivalent to 4 cans pre-cooked beans. Takes about 1h 15m if you make it without a slow cooker.
SharonATX
It would be helpful to include the weight of the Parmesan rinds themselves for those of us who already have them saved up for such a purpose.
emily hoffman
Wow, this soup is good, one of the best I’ve ever prepared I’d even say. I did it in the crockpot but it could have easily been done stovetop. It’s rich and creamy, full of flavor and really well balanced, had a little bit of warmth from the red pepper, and a freshness from the little splash of lemon juice that rounds out the sharpness of the cheese.Simply wow.
jmack
Oh wow. This soup is just so good. Two nights in a row and it's still crazy delicious. I used barley as I realized at the last moment that I didn't have farro, par-cooked it and the beans then threw everything in the slow cooker for 4-5 hours with parm rind. Everything else was pretty much to the recipe. One more drop of liquid in my 6 qt cooker and it would have been over the rim. Reheats beautifully. I'm adding it to the winter soup line-up. Yum.
A.B.
I'm gluten-intolerant and literally making this right now just using long grain brown rice instead. I think sorghum would be fine to use, but I also don't think just leaving out the wheat berries would really be a problem. There's a fair bit of substance to the soup without them.
Fran Eckert
To the person who hates licorice flavor, the cumin suggestion as a substitute will change the flavor of this soup dramatically and, IMHO, does not complement the other ingredients at all. Just sub another aromatic such as leek (as another reviewer did).
David Spence
Do the parmesan rinds melt into the soup, or are they removed at the end?
Carrie
Used canned beans and left out the fennel seed. Really good!
Matthew
Very good. My only departure from the recipe as-as was to add more liquid (8 cups broth), may need a bit more liquid added the second day -- it is VERY thick. Don't be shy with the parmesan, parsley and lemon juice! I think the recipe could easily be made on the stovetop, with dry or canned beans.
Rachel
I made this on the stove top today- boiled beans for 2 hours and then made the soup as written and simmered for another 2 or 3 hours. I added spinach right before serving because I had it in the fridge. We loved this soup but I think it could be even better with some crunchy lemony breadcrumbs on top.
Jeri
I used canned beans in a Dutch oven, as suggested by others, and it was delicious. The second time I made this soup, I did not use the TSP fennel seeds. To my taste, the fennel bulb gave just the balance of fennel, lemon, and beef. Also, the second go-round, I used barley rather than wheat berry because I had it. It was a different taste but no better or worse.
mmk
i did this wrong in so many ways—had no fennel or fennel seeds, used pearled farro, swapped it out of the slow cooker for the stovetop halfway through. and yet it was STILL so good
Delicious Flavor!
So when I first tried this, I followed the recipe. After 10 hours of beautiful smells in my home, I was sad to find my beans were hard and "crunchy". Despite soaking overnight and cooking for 10hrs, my beans were hard and inedible. Second round, I used canned beans, cooked in a pot on the stove and I had soup ready in about 1hr. Also, I followed the recommendation to add 8 cups instead of 6 cups for a more brothy soup and it came out perfect. Already planning on when I'll be making it again!
FH Cyclist
Is Ed Instant pot method and I thought a lot easier than slow cooker. Used tepary beans and Romano cheese (staples in my house). Wonderful dish for a winter evening. Used 1/4 tsp of pepper flakes. More than enuf for me!
Allyson (from comments section)
30 Jan 2024Scared about election Picked up Henry early today; we started BFG and made blueberry muffins though I neglected to cream the butter
Matthew
I'm uneasy about the election as well.... but i still enjoyed the soup!
Sheila Q
Have made this a few times now, and use farrow every time (instead of wheat berries)…adding them about halfway through slow-cooker time and they are perfect. I LOVE this recipe. One of my all-time faves.
jillsdailydish
Made this recipe according to the instruction except I had to substitute farro for wheat berries. (Just couldn’t find them at my store.). I did end up adding two more cups of stock to think it out. Despite the addition it eats more stew like, but it is absolutely delicious!
KMorley
I am making this soup now and and one detail has me wondering: the recipe calls for finely chopping the fennel bulb and coarsely chopping the fennel fronds. What should I do with the fennel stalks (the part between between bulb and fronds)? Discard?
Adriene
Chop them thinly and add them with the fennel bulb.
Christopher
Our beans (bought yesterday, soaked overnight, in slow cooker for 10 hours on low then 1 hour on high) were still hard. As I type this I am nuking the soup on the stove to get the beans soft so as to make sure they are safe to eat. Read scientific research now as well saying not to slow cook beans. Due to toxins in them that must be cooked at higher temperatures than most slow cookers can reach.As other commenters say, just make this on the stove.
ParkerCooks
Avoid this recipe. Waste of time. Time consuming. Beige color super unappealing. Skipped fennel seeds and red peppers but flavor was very off. No way to salvage this.
Lizzi
PS: I might make it again. However, next time I’ll add canned beans. I had cooked the beans separately w/veggie broth but they came out way too salty and it just took away the great taste of the other ingredients in the soup.
Haley
Cooked beans in advance and added them after the barley was cooked in the broth. I agree with other comments that it ends up being a quite thick soup, so definitely add more cups of water. Very delicious, even though I forgot the fennel bulb and the rosemary.
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