White Bean and Chard Stew

I suppose you could classify this dish as a soup if you'd like and you could even make it more soup-y by adding additional vegetable broth after the chard cooks. I like using red chard in this recipe as it adds a bit of color to the broth. The original version of this recipe suggests that you cook the chard in boiling water prior to adding it to the stew, but I chose to cook the chard in the stew instead. Not only does this color the stew nicely, it also keeps the chard's vitamins and goodness in the stew instead of the losing it with the cooking water. Serving the stew with a delicately poached egg on top alongside a hefty piece of crusty bread and was fantastic.

White Bean and Chard Stew

1 pound Swiss chard- ribs and stems removed, cleaned, and coarsely chopped (using red chard gives the stew a lovely pink hue)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 (large) cup chopped carrots
1 (large) cup chopped celery
1 (large) cup chopped shallots, about 4 medium
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or pressed
1 cup dry white wine
2 15 ounce cans (or about 3 3/4 cups) white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups (or more to taste) vegetable broth
1 15 ounce can pureed tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 fresh thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves

Toasted bread slices, poached eggs, or grated Pecorino Romano to serve (optional)

- In a medium soup pot heat olive oil over medium. Add carrots, celery, shallots and garlic and saute for 15 minutes, until vegetables are softened and starting to brown.

- Add wine and stir to scrape up browned bits that are stuck to the pot and cook it until wine reduces by three-fourths. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, a few pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a boil.

- Reduce heat to medium-low, add chard and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Add more broth if you’d like a thinner stew and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

-Adapted from Smitten Kitchen