White bean soup “fasolada” in the traditional wood-fired oven

It was a cold winter day. Deep inside the traditional wood-fired oven, in a clay crockpot, we were slow-cooking a white bean soup. What’s special about this bean soup? It’s the white bean soup I used to make during my years at University in Florina, Greece. A bean soup made with high-quality Greek Prespon Beans and with the special technique that people in Florina use. Ancient Greeks used to eat bean soup, as well, but it wasn’t made with the white beans as we know it today (they were unknown back then). The white beans we know today came to Europe after America was discovered. They arrived in Spain first, then in France, and finally in Greece through Italy. In Greek mythology, when Theseus was returning from Crete after the fight with the Minotaur, he stopped in Delos and, since he couldn’t find anything to offer to the Gods, he gathered all the kind of seeds they had on the ship (broad beans, chickpeas, lupine, black-eyed peas, etc), he cooked all these together and made the first bean soup -his gift to the Gods. Before 1820, the bean soup (fasolada) was a white soup, since tomatoes -and potatoes as well- arrived in Greece around that time. Since 1925 tomatoes started being cultivated on a large scale. In my opinion, white bean soup is considered our national dish because it was a vital part of nourishment for many generations of Greeks during the worst years in our contemporary history, since it has high nutritional value. However, white beans can be hard to digest and may cause gas, whilst it takes more than 24 hours to get rid of bloating. There’s an old saying in Greece that describes the funny aspects of this matter perfectly… Once more, slow-cooking will make all the difference in this recipe. Let’s see all these.

INGREDIENTS

1kg (2.2lb) white Prespon beans
2 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp sweet chili flakes
1 small hot chili pepper (optional)
1 tsp oregano
3 medium carrots
250g chopped onions
½ bunch of leaf celery (with the stalks)
1 small piece of celery root
300ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp tomato paste

PREPARATION

Start by rinsing the beans 4-5 hours before cooking. Then, soak the beans into plenty of lukewarm water. High-quality, quick-cooking beans don’t take longer than this to soak. After the beans have soaked and they have almost doubled in size, add to the clay crockpot they are in, carrots, cut into rounds, and chopped onions along with leaf celery and celery root. Add salt, all of the spices, and tomato paste, while stirring to dissolve it. Add olive oil last, and make sure that the liquid level is 5cm (2 in) above the beans. Ιf needed, add more now. Now, you’re ready to slow-cook the white bean soup in the traditional wood-fired oven.

COOKED ON Traditional wood-fired oven

COOKING

Before preparing and adding the ingredients, preheat the traditional wood-fired oven. Place thin pieces of dry hardwood in the oven’s chamber along with alcohol-soaked cotton, add thicker pieces of wood on top and initiate fire. Leave the door open for a while to establish the fire. When the fire is established, close the door by placing it in the external position, which leaves the chimney inside the oven.

When the pieces of wood have turned into embers, the oven’s dome would be white. Remove the embers from the chamber with a metal shovel and use the embers in your charcoal grill to prepare your appetizers and your grilled vegetables to accompany the bean soup.

Close the oven’s door allowing the oven to “mature”. When the temperature is down to 220⁰C-240⁰C (428⁰F-464⁰F), place the clay crock pot deep into the oven’s chamber. Close the door and slow-cook for approximately two hours, or a bit longer. Remove the cooking vessel from the oven and allow the temperature to drop slowly. It’s served warm, but cold is equally good. Accompany this dish with (cooked) wild greens and raw or grilled vegetables.

It’s a special white bean soup recipe for the cold days of the winter.

Happy cooking everyone!