Description
This Roasted Garlic & White Bean Soup with Herb Oil is a creamy, luxurious vegetarian take on soup. It’s flavored with roasted garlic, shallots, and tons of fresh herbs. The cannellini beans add richness and creaminess. The herb oil not only adds a punch of beautiful color but bright and fresh flavor as well. This is a vegetarian soup that will make any meat eater happy!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Soup:
- 3 whole heads of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced (roughly ⅓ cup)
- ¼ cup fresh sage leaves
- 1 large sprig of rosemary, leaves removed from the stem
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and chopped (roughly 1 cup)
- 1 (15-oz) can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed well
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable (or chicken) broth
- ½ cup heavy cream or half-and-half
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Herb Oil:
- ½ cup neutral flavored oil (canola or grapeseed work great)
- ½ cup fresh chives, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 1 sprig rosemary, leaves removed from stem
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For Serving:
- Sour cream or heavy cream, for garnish
- Toasted bread
Instructions
For the Soup:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Halve the garlic heads and place them on a baking sheet lined with tin foil.
- Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season generously with salt. Wrap the heads of garlic with another piece of foil and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the garlic is caramelized and soft.
- Allow the garlic to cool a little bit before handling.
- While the garlic is cooling, heat a large pot over medium heat and add the remaining olive oil and the butter.
- Once the butter is melted, squeeze the roasted garlic from the skins directly into the pot. Add in the sliced shallot and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the shallots are softened.
- Add in the fresh sage and rosemary and stir to combine. Cook for another minute.
- Add in the potato and beans and stir everything well to combine. Stream in the broth, another pinch of salt, some black pepper and bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes or until the potato is super tender and falling apart.
- Puree the soup until completely smooth – either transfer to a regular blender (in batches) or blend directly in the pot using an immersion blender.
- Return the soup to the pot and stir in the cream. Season, to taste, with additional salt and pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.
For the Herb Oil:
- While the soup is cooking, make the herb oil by combining the oil and herbs in a food processor. Run the machine for a minute, pausing to scrape down teh slides of the bowl as needed. You want the herbs completely pulverized.
- Use the herb as is or strain through a fine-mesh strainer if a smoother consistency is desired (as shown in the photos of this post).
To Serve:
- Ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish with a drizzle of cream (or a dollop of sour cream) and a drizzle of the herb oil.
- Sprinkle each bowl of soup with fresh chives. Serve immediately with toasty bread on the side.
Notes
- This soup will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- This soup freezes very well. Cool the soup to room temperature and transfer to freezer-safe containers. Freeze for up to 6 months.
- This soup could easily be made vegan by subbing out the butter for more oil and swapping the heavy cream out for full-fat coconut milk. A drizzle of coconut milk over top when serving would work beautifully as well!
- Prep Time: 1 hour (mostly inactive)
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: soup