Fastest Freshest Vegetable Soup

For this peak produce moment

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After being away from home for three weeks, and eating lots of lobster rolls, fried clams, and French fries (what was I thinking?), I was seriously craving some healthy, home-cooked meals. I had to go to the city, and I came home with armloads of vegetables from one of my favorite farmers in the Union Square Greenmarket, Norwich Meadows Farm. This is my main source for fresh shelling beans, which start appearing around now and miraculously remain available until almost Thanksgiving. They grow an incredible variety of beans, which I immortalized in an Instagram post a few years ago (one of my most popular ever!). Not only are they beautiful to look at, they’re delicious to eat too! I buy them whenever I see them. They keep well in the fridge for about a week if you can't get to them right away, and you can also shell and freeze them to enjoy after their season has passed.

I like to add leeks later in the cooking process so they retain their freshness. If using onions, add them along with the celery and carrots. Then all the other vegetables go in at once, along with the cooked beans and their liquid. The vegetables should be “swimming” in the liquid—a spoon should move easily through the pot. The pasta will absorb some of the liquid, so you want to make sure there’s enough. You can always add more later.

Why do I love shelling beans so much? Let me tell you. Because they’re fresh (meaning not dried), they cook quickly (usually in about twenty minutes, even when frozen), and they have none of the graininess that you might associate with dried beans. They’re almost always creamy in texture and make their own tasty broth. You can throw them into a simmering soup, knowing they’ll be done around the same time as the vegetables; but in this recipe, I cook them separately so I have a bit more control over the cooking of both the beans and the veggies in the soup. All of that said, you can still make this soup without fresh shelling beans! Dried beans along with their “liquor” would work best as a substitute. You can use canned beans if you must, but you’ll be missing out on the amazing liquid you get when you cook the beans yourself. You can also leave the beans out altogether and use any kind of stock instead of bean liquid. This soup is a celebration of high summer, so you’ll still have plenty of fresh flavor without them.

Tubettini has been my favorite pandemic pasta. It cooks quickly and adds a little heft to this soup.

You might be wondering how I could recommend hot soup at this time of year. The truth is, I love soup so much that I could eat it anytime, and this one can even be served closer to room temperature if you prefer. If the evening is cool, or if you’re enjoying the AC, this meal is positively summery! I gravitate towards making it at this time of year because it seems like EVERYTHING is in season, and the recipe is flexible enough for you to use whatever vegetables you have on hand. You could use spring onions or shallots instead of the leeks, add fennel if you have it, or use some cubed potatoes if you aren’t using beans to give the soup some body. Leave the pasta in or leave it out. This is a recipe to riff on.

I’ll be sharing another recipe that celebrates peak summer produce with my paid subscribers on Sunday. Subscribe below to receive it in your inbox!

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Fastest, Freshest Summer Vegetable Soup

Click here for a printable version

Serves 4

If you have any kind of pesto in the fridge, definitely swirl some into each bowl—it will amp up the fresh flavor even more. I used sausage in this batch but it’s totally optional, which easily makes this soup vegetarian. I like to add pasta, especially if it’s dinner, but unless you plan to eat it right away, it’s better to cook the pasta on the side and add it to each portion, as it’ll soak up all the liquid if you let it sit in the fridge. This is a soup that is meant to be made and eaten right away, so all the vegetables retain some crunch and their individual fresh flavors, so that shouldn’t be a problem!

For the beans:
1 cup shelled fresh shelling beans (any kind)
2 to 3 garlic cloves, slightly crushed
A few sprigs fresh thyme
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Olive oil

For the soup:
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for serving
1 stalk celery, diced
3 to 4 thin carrots, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch rounds
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1 link sweet Italian sausage (optional), about 3 ounces
1 large or 2 small leeks, (halved lengthwise and sliced ¼-inch thick, (about 1 cup)
Big handful Romano beans (flat green beans), trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
Handful string beans, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
2 small or 1 medium zucchini, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
1 ear corn, kernels cut from cob (about ¾ cup)
1 Parmesan rind (optional)
⅓ cup uncooked short pasta, like tubettini or ditalini
Grated Parmesan, for serving 
Fresh soft herbs, for serving

1. Prepare the beans: Combine shelled beans with the garlic, thyme, salt, 4 cups water, and a drizzle of olive oil in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a bare simmer and cook until beans are just tender, about 20 minutes. Let them cool a bit in the liquid while you prepare the soup.

2. Prepare the soup: In a small Dutch oven or large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the celery and carrot. Season with salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes, or until they are starting to soften. Add the sausage (if using) and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add leeks and cook until wilted, 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Add the Romano beans, string beans, zucchini, corn, Parmesan rind (if using), and the cooked beans and all of the bean liquid. Discard the thyme sprigs and smash the garlic cloves against the side of the pan to dissolve them. The vegetables should be “swimming” a bit in the liquid, so add more water or stock now if necessary. A spoon should move freely through the liquid. Bring to a boil, add the pasta, stir well, and cook at a brisk simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Adjust seasonings and add liquid if needed.

4. Ladle into bowls, top with Parmesan and fresh herbs, and drizzle a little olive oil onto each serving.