A big rustic bowl of vegetable soup is a great way to sneak some leafy greens into a meal. While most recipes will reach for kale or spinach, it's a perfect place for assertive greens like dandelions. This simple Italian sausage, white beans and dandelion soups is based on a template I use to make many similar dishes. Read on and I'll walk you through it and some ways you can vary it with whatever's on hand.

A large terrine of white bean, sausage and dandelion soup in a china soup terrine with a lid with fresh dandelion greens in the background. — Sausage, white bean and dandelion soup.

There's many ways to vary a simple soup like this, but bitter greens really shine here as you don't need a lot. If wild greens are out of season I'll check my local Asian and Middle Eastern grocers for cultivated dandelions or chicory which is what I've done here.

Cultivated dandelion greens and chicory are often sold at Coops.

Meat is optional, but dandelions, chicory and others like wild lettuce are a perfect pairing with sausage. At the end of the day, I'll add whatever I have. There are no sacred cows here, and rapini / broccoli raab is a great substitute if you don’t have any wild bitter greens.

How to Make It

If I have time, the first thing I'll do is soak some beans, altough potatoes, pasta and farro work too. While a can works in a pinch, home-cooked beans are easier on my digestion and allow you to control the flavor. Soak the beans in cold water for a few hours or overnight, strain, cover with water, add a bay leaf and a clove of garlic, and simmer.

A close up image of white beans being cooked in a pot with bay leaves and a clove of garlic. — Cooked white beans with a bay leaf and a garlic clove.

I add salt after half an hour to ensure they don't break apart. Although it tastes good, I also discard the cooking liquid, but you don't have to.

Building the Soup

If possible, the first thing I do is build a good layer of browned bits in a pan by cooking some meat. While most soups may call for fresh, I find I get a much better fond (browned bits) from using partially cooked meat as some of the water weight's been cooked off.

A close up image of browned bits in a pan leftover from cooking sausage. — Getting a browned base of flavor from sausage or other meat improves the flavor.

Here I've used some leftover Italian sausage I made which is so good with dandelions, but you can use whatever you have, or skip it and use the same weight of mushrooms, ideally roasted to brown them beforehand. Sometimes it might be a leftover soup bone or a few chopped salami ends.

While the meat browns I'll bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cut up the greens. One of the keys to having long leafy greens blend into a soup is to cut them into slices around an inch long so they don't hang awkwardly from a spoon.

Cutting up fresh dandelion greens into bite-sized pieces on a cutting board. — Cut the dandelion greens into bite-sized pieces.

The greens are quickly blanched for 30 to 60 seconds to wilt them. With bitter greens this also helps tame the flavor. After blanching they're refreshed in cold water to preserve the texture. If you use greens with a milder flavor like lambsquarters or watercress you can add them directly to the soup.

Boiling cultivated dandelion greens in a pot before adding to soup. — Blanching dandelion greens.

Back to the soup base, once browned, the meat's removed and the aromatics are added. Carrot onion and celery are standard, but adding leeks or celery root are good too. One of my tricks for a great soup is to intentionally overcook the mirepoix base, which really helps build flavor. Adding tomato paste and allowing it to barely brown improves the color.

Browning Italian sausage in a pot to make soup. — Start by browning the sausage.

Slowly cooking carrot, onion and celery in a pot for soup. — Gently cook the carrot, onion and celery.

Adding tomato paste to cooked carrot, onion and celery. — Adding tomato paste after the vegetables are cooked.

At the moment I start to get nervous the tomato paste is getting too dark I'll deglaze the pan. If sausage, smoked or salted meat like pancetta is added I'll deglaze the pan with a splash of wine. Next comes the potatoes or beans.

Deglazing a pan or vegetables with dry white wine. — If I add sausage I deglaze with wine, if not, I skip it.

Adding cooked white beans to a pot of dandelion soup. — Adding cooked white beans or another starch.

Finally the browned meat, stock and greens are added and the soup is cooked just until the greens are tender. They should never be chewy, and the Italian grandmother in me prefers them slightly overcooked, melding into the background.

Adding blanched, sliced dandelion greens to a pot of soup before adding stock. — Adding the greens and sausage.

Adding chicken stock to a pot of dandelion soup. — Adding chicken stock.

Once the greens are tender, double check the seasoning for salt and it's ready. Like most soups, the flavor noticeably improves the day after it's made.

What I've described here is also just one way I'll make a soup like this. The process and ingredients are very close to other Italian soups like minestrone, and ribollita, and I rarely make one the same way twice.

Italian sausage, white bean and dandelion soup served with olive oil, parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper. — Serve the soup with plenty of parmesan, olive oil and fresh ground pepper.

Chef's Tips and Variations

Being gluten free I don't get to enjoy it as much, but adding tiny pasta like acini di pepe, ditalini, stars, or farfallini is fantastic.
Pesto makes a great garnish if you have some. Ramp pesto is even better.
The second or third day I eat the soup I love adding stale bread as for ribollita. The older the better. Add a few handfuls of stale bread-the older the better, simmering until just tender. It should be thick like oatmeal.
I don't add a lot, but a handful of Italian dried mushrooms like porcini (here I've used morels) helps give the broth that special "je ne sais quoi". If I make it vegetarian I'll add even more, up to an ounce of dried mushrooms.
The starch is what I change the most: sometimes wild rice, farro, potatoes, lentils, beans and just about anything that's in the pantry can be used.
This is a great place for that expensive extra virgin olive oil, at the table.

A bowl of sausage, white bean and dandelion soup next to a large soup terrine filled with more soup and surrounded by fresh dandelion greens.

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Italian Sausage, White Bean and Dandelion Soup

A rustic Italian soup with white beans, vegetables, fennel sausage and dandelion greens or other bitter greens. A template to make your own.

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Total Time1

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: Servings

Calories: 601kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 5

Equipment

1 gallon soup pot

Ingredients

White Beans

1 cup dried great northern or cannellini beans or 2 12.5 oz cans, drained
1 dried bay leaf
¼ of a small onion in one piece (optional)
1 large garlic clove peeled and trimmed

Soup

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 lb mild Italian sausage or hot if you prefer
1 cup carrots 4 oz small dice
1 cup celery 4 oz, small dice
1 cup onion 4 oz, small dice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh to taste
½ cup dry white wine optional
8 oz dandelions
6 cups chicken stock
½ oz dried mushrooms such as morels or porcini (optional)

Serving

Fresh chopped Italian parsley
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano grana Padano, pecorino, or your favorite parmesan
Extra virgin olive oil a drizzle to taste at the table
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Beans

If using dried beans, soak them overnight in cold water, drain, then put in a small saucepot, cover with water by two inches, add the bay, onion and a generous pinch of salt. Bring the pot to a boil, turn the heat to a simmer and cook until the beans are just tender, about 45-60 minutes.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil large enough to accommodate the dandelions, 2-3 quarts is good. Line the dandelion greens up and cut them into 1 inch strips so they’ll fit on a spoon.
Add the dandelion greens to the pot and cook until just wilted, about 30 seconds. Remove the greens, refresh in cold water, squeeze dry and reserve.

Build the Soup

First brown the sausage in a soup pot of at least 1 gallon capacity. You can use lump sausage or links. While most recipes won’t call for it, par-cooking the sausage before browning will give you a better fond or crust on the bottom than if you cook the sausage from raw as some water weight has been removed.
If using links, brown them well until cooked through, then remove, cool, quarter the long way and cut into bite-sized pieces. Remove the sausage from the pan using a slotted spoon or spatula, leaving the drippings behind.
Sweat the carrot, onion and celery in the sausage drippings until very well cooked, about twenty minutes. Add the tomato paste and continue cooking until it starts to brown on the bottom, but be careful not to burn it.
At the perfect moment when the color on the bottom of the pot starts to make you nervous, add the wine, cook until the pan is dry, then add the stock, dried mushrooms if using, beans and sausage, bring the pot to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
If you’re at all wary of the cleanliness of your mushrooms, soak them in a cup of warm water first, agitating to remove grit, straining and recombining the two. If you soak the mushrooms, add the soaking liquid to the soup.

Finishing and Serving

Finally, add the dandelion greens and cook until they’re tender and taste good to you, this will take roughly 5-10 minutes depending on the age of the greens.
Double check the seasoning for salt and pepper, adjust until it tastes good to you, and serve. While you can serve it right away, the flavor improves greatly if the soup is allowed to rest overnight.

Video

Notes

Instead of beans, you can substitute 2 cups of small diced potatoes, just try not to cook them to mush.
Instead of sausage you can substitute 8 oz of fresh mushrooms, roasted or sauteed to brown them first.
To make it a more filling meal or help it appeal to children and skeptics, you can enrich the soup with a few handfuls of cooked, tiny pasta like acini de pepe, ditalini, or farfallini.

Nutrition