Tuscan Bean Stew

This is a recipe for a quick Tuscan Bean Stew.  And by quick, I simply mean that I used canned ingredients like canned petite diced tomatoes and canned beans.  I just don't have time on a weeknight to soak and cook real beans.

So, here are the ingredients: Olive oil, pancetta, kale, chicken broth, white kidney beans, petite diced tomatoes, onion, celery, garlic, rosemary, and bay leaves.

Start by chopping up all the veggies.  Finely dice the onion, celery, and carrots. Mince the garlic.

Now, ready to begin!
Cook the pancetta and about a tablespoon of olive oil in the dutch oven over medium heat.  Pancetta is an Italian cured pork.  It is similar to bacon.  I could only find panchetta that was already chopped.  If you buy it in slices or a chunk of it, be sure to dice it into pretty small pieces.  Cook the pancetta until the fat starts to render and it starts to brown.  Then add the onions in and cook until they start to soften and brown.

While these items are cooking, begin preparing the kale. Wash it and chop it into bite size pieces.

Once the onions are brown, add in the carrots and celery.  Cook for several more minutes until the veggies start to soften and brown as well.  Then add in the minced garlic.  Cook the garlic for just under a minute or until it becomes very fragrant.  Then cover with chicken broth.  Add in 4-5 small bay leaves or 2-3 large ones.

Next, add in the diced kale.

There you have it, kale soup! Just kidding.

While this mixture is simmering, rinse the beans.  Always rinse beans from a can.  It removes the can flavor.  I used two whole cans of beans for the soup plus one for a bean paste.  Make a bean paste by dumping a can of beans into a bowl and mushing them with a potato masher.  Add the beans and the bean paste to the pot!  The bean paste thickens the stew to give it a nice hearty texture, while preserving the bean-y flavor.

Let that mixture simmer for at least 20-30 minutes.  Add in a can of petite diced tomatoes.  Then add rosemary.  Let simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Finally, remove the rosemary and bay leaves from the pot and discard.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and enjoy.