OPERA BEAN SOUP - Israeli Soul, p. 234
This recipe has a 4-hour cooking time, but I actually was saving it for a busy night. I was called out on a sheep rescue on Sunday, and it was an overnight trip. I got home very tired and very underfed Monday afternoon, with a list of follow-up tasks, and had to tend to the work in the pottery studio that I stashed into damp boxes when I got called out. So no way was I making an involved dinner. This dish had very simple prep, and I figured the Instant pot could save me from the long cook and having to babysit a pot on the stove.
So here is how it went: You are supposed to soak beans overnight. That didn’t happen, but I generally don’t soak beans. The only vegetable prep is dicing an onion and slicing some garlic. Those get sautéed, and I did that right in the IP. You then toss in a couple serrano peppers that have had holes poked in them, a pound of beans, some smoked paprike, and a combination of tomato juice and water. I wanted to reduce the liquid to account for being in the IP, so I cut only the water in half, and used the full amount of tomato juice. Salt is supposed to be added halfway through, but I added it from the get-go, as I always do. Now to set a cook time… The acid in the tomato juice would tend to keep the beans firm, which is reflected in the four-hour stovetop time in the recipe. So I upped from what I would usually use for these beans and went with 1 hour and 15 minutes. At the end of that time I let the pot naturally release for 15 minutes, then did a quick release.
The cook time was spot on, the beans were tender, but all still intact. You finish the soup with some lemon juice and more salt if needed (it was needed), and garnish with cilantro. This is the first dish from this book that wasn’t a hit for me. I love beans, and can happily eat them just plain if they are well-seasoned, so I hate to say that the soup was too simple, but that was my first impression. Upon reflection, I think the tomato juice just wasn’t doing it for me. Also, I like to put lots of salt in from the get-go, so the beans are seasoned throughout. These were undersalted during cooking, and adding salt at the end doesn’t really fix that. I can think of tweaks I would make if I were to make this again, but I’ll be honest and admit I’m not going to make it again. I have too many great bean soups in my repertoire to waste time fixing this one.
