From Nic in the Gallery-
One of the criteria for a recipe to truly make it into my rotation is the work (how long it takes to make, how much baby sitting does it need, are there a lot of critical steps) versus the reward (how tasty is the finished dish, is it visually pleasing?) ratio. I found that even if I love a dish, if it is really time consuming I tend to push it to the back or save it for a special occasion.
This dish has a great work versus reward ratio. The author of this recipe Alison Roman, is a New York Times best seller and author of multiple cook books. She uses the term “frizzled” to describe how far to take your onions to develop the depth of flavor needed for this recipe. A frizzled onion according to her is “somewhere between an onion that has been caramelized and fried.” After trying this soup, I am a true believer of the power of the frizzle. Here is what you will need:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more (optional)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper
- 2 15-ounce cans white beans such as navy, butter, cannellini, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- ¼ of a head of cabbage, core removed, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar or fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup dill, coarsely chopped
- heat your butter and oil in your cazuela or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add your onions and salt and pepper them, then cook for 5-8 minutes. Alison advises, “You do not want jammy, caramelized onions, but you also do not want burnt onions”. After they are done transfer 1/4th of them into a small bowl or a little dipper and set aside for later.
- add your beans and salt and pepper them. Using a large spoon break up some of the beans against the walls or bottom of your cazuela or dutch oven. Only break up some of them, this will thicken your soup, but don’t go to far and make refried beans.
- add your broth and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, then add your chopped cabbage and vinegar cooking for another 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste at this point.
- take your soup off the heat, and add half of the dill. I like to serve mine in my favorite joe’s blue soup bowl. Top each bowl with fresh dill and some of the reserved frizzled onions. Alison recommends adding a nob of butter or sour cream also at this point. Personally I like to go a heavy with the fresh dill on top of mine.
In my current iteration of this dish, I add another onion and use it as more topping at the end (like I said I am a true believer of the frizzle). I hope you give this savory soup a try. I know I will be planting dill in my garden this spring with dreams of this dish.
