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A Spring Celebration: Fava Bean Soup with fennel, leeks, carrots, celery, garlic and fresh rosemary.

A healthy, hearty soup with dried fava beans, spring vegetables, and orzo.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 7 hours
Soaking Time 12 hours
Total Time 19 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/4 cup dried fava beans
  • 1 tbsp olive oil or vegetable broth
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 cups celery chopped
  • 2 cups leeks chopped
  • 1 cup fennel chopped
  • 3 cups carrots chopped
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary chopped
  • 2/3 cup dried orzo
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (or parmesan rind if not vegan)
  • salt, black pepper, red chili pepper flakes to taste

Equipment

  • Instapot

Method
 

Soak Beans
  1. Measure 1 1/4 cups of dried fava beans and pour into a large container.
  2. Cover beans completely in cold water and store in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
  3. I like to soak these the night before I want to make the soup and remove them from the refrigerator when ready to prepare dinner.
Instapot Instructions
  1. After the beans have soaked, drain the water and rinse beans.
  2. Place beans in an Instaport with 10 cups of water.
  3. Use the Soup/Broth button and set to LESS with high pressure. Make sure the vent is sealed.
  4. Allow beans to cook and Instapot to preform the natural pressure release.
  5. DO NOT DISCARD THE LIQUID! This is the amazing broth for the soup.
  6. While the beans are cooking, prepare the chopped vegetables.
  7. Once beans have cooked add vegetables, rosemary, garlic, 1 tsp of salt, black and red pepper to taste, nutritional yeast and orzo to the Instapot.
  8. Place Instapot on SLOW COOK, NORMAL setting for 7 hours. Stir the soup every now and then and adjust seasonings as needed or an additional 1 cup of water if soup is too thick.
Stovetop Instructions
  1. After the beans have soaked, drain the water and rinse beans.
  2. Transfer beans to a large stockpot and add 12 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1-2 hours until beans have broken down.
  3. While the beans are cooking, prepare the chopped vegetables.
  4. Add garlic, celery, leeks, fennel, carrots, rosemary, and nutritional yeast to the pot.
  5. Add 1 tsp of salt and black and red pepper to taste.
  6. Simmer soup on low for 30 minutes to allow vegetables to cook and flavors to develop.
  7. Add orzo. Cook for at least 30 minutes stirring frequently.
  8. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Serving
  1. Serve soup with additional fresh rosemary and a drizzle of olive oil if desired. This soup is amazing with toasted bread and tastes even better over the next few days.