White bean and mushroom soup

Simple and comforting

A modest variation on Nick Sharma’s recipe for white bean garlic soup with mushrooms and miso. Made this with Rancho Gordo’s Alubia Blanca. A larger, softer white bean would do well, perhaps even better.

• 1.5 cups dry white beans

• 2 bay leaves

• 6 garlic cloves, 2 just peeled, 4 peeled and minced

• 4 oz dried porcini or mixed dried mushrooms

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 large red onion, peeled and minced

• 2 tbsp miso

• 2 tsp ground black pepper

• 1 pint each of white button and brown cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

• 1 tbl soy sauce

• salt

• 2 tbsp sesame oil

• 1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds or black sesame

• 2 tbsp green onions, sliced

1. Rinse white beans well. If relatively fresh and known high quality, an overnight soak is not necessary but will reduce cooking time.

2. If soaked, place beans with soaking liquid in medium pan. If not soaked, add beans to pan. Add water until beans are covered with water with an additional 1 1/2 to 2 inches of water above the top of the beans.

3. Add the 2 bay leaves and 2 cloves of just peeled (not minced) garlic, and turn on heat to medium-high. Bring to a gentle simmer.

4. Simmer beans until al dente. Time will vary from 30 minutes to over an hour depending upon bean size, type and freshness. If you’d like to cook them faster, use a pressure cooker or pre-soak. Or sub with rinsed, canned beans.

5. Once beans are al dente, add dried mushrooms and continue to cook until very soft. Likely 10-15 more minutes. Turn off but do not drain. Remove the garlic and the bay leaves. Cooking the beans can be done ahead.

   1. Alternatively, you can cover the dried mushrooms in a cup of hot water in a separate container, and add them with their soaking liquid later in the recipe after removing some of the cooked beans.

6. When beans are in their final cooking stage, or if they’ve already been cooked ahead of time, start the soup in a dutch over or other medium to large pan.

7. Heat the olive oil in the pan, and then add the red onion. Saute until soft but not brown.

8. Add minced garlic and sauté quickly for 30 seconds or so. You are infusing the oil with the garlic and taking the raw edge off. The garlic should not begin to brown.

9. Add the miso and stir until it has dissolved and is coating the onion and garlic.

10. Add the sliced mushrooms, the pepper, and some salt. Saute until the mushrooms are soft through and through, but they do not need to brown.

11. Add the beans and their cooking liquid and the soy sauce to the mushroom mixture pan and stir well. Bring to a simmer, and simmer gently until beans are very, very soft and flavors combined. Timing will be based on how much the beans cooked above, but 10 minutes is a good starting point.

12. Turn the beans off.

13. Using a slotted spoon, remove about 1 cup of the beans and mushrooms. If you can, pick out any of the dried mushrooms if there are larger pieces and add back to the soup.

    1. If you’ve soaked the mushrooms separately, add them back to the bean and mushroom pot after removing the 1 cup.

14. Using a stick blender, a potato masher, or other implement of destruction, puree the remaining bean mixture. If needed, you can add some water to thin it out.

15. Add the removed beans and mushrooms back in, and bring back to simmer in order to serve.

16. Ladle the soup into serving bowls, and drizzle with some sesame oil, scatter some onions on top, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

17. A grind or two of fresh black pepper and some flakey salt scattered on top will finish the dish off well.