Brothy Beans Primavera with Cheesy Tarragon Croutons

A bowlful of pure spring comfort to combat gray days.

I always forget Karl the Fog’s hold on the Bay Area this time of year. If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Karl, he’s a fickle little guy who loves to move in just when everyone is ready to don their sunnies and grab an ice cold bottle of rosé. You want a hot, sunshine-filled Memorial Day? Nah, Karl has other plans. So, instead of a BBQ-ready recipe (those will drop in the coming weeks, don’t worry!), this week is all about gloomy, late spring comfort at its finest.

The combination of brothy beans, green garlic, asparagus, peas, and fava beans (which are optional, but highly recommended)—bolstered with a grating of lemon zest and a spritz of lemon juice—is light and bright, while also being deeply warming and nourishing. It’s a little minestrone adjacent, but less soupy and more spring-y.

And, of course, ya gotta have a delightful carby topping. Big, chunky torn pieces of bread are tossed with extra virgin olive oil, tarragon, and Parmigiano-Reggiano, then baked to create crispity-crunchity, cheesy croutons. My favorite spoonfuls are when the croutons have soaked up a little of the broth on the bottom for a crispy-gone-just-slightly-soggy bite.

DIG INTO A BIG BOWLFUL OF SPRING!

Brothy Beans Primavera with Cheesy Tarragon Croutons

Because the flavorings are so minimal for this dish, it’s going to tastes its best if you use good-quality stock, vegetables, and of course, beans. Canned or jarred beans will work in a pinch, but there is something so special about cooking your own beans. For this dish, I used dried flageolet beans and cooked them with equal parts water and homemade chicken & veggie scraps stock, fennel seeds, cracked black pepper, salt, and bay leaves. Then, I used the beany stock mixture as my broth.

There are so many great dried beans out there—my go-to legume companies are Rancho Gordo (duh!), Primary Beans, and Rancho Llano Seco. The greenness of spring vegetables pairs especially well with milder, creamier beans, like flageolet, cannellini, alubia blanca, and royal corona.

If you can’t find green garlic, you can substitute 1 medium leek, thinly slicing the white and light green parts and allowing a couple extra minutes for them to soften in the simmering broth. I love fava beans, but they can be a lot of work and have a very short season. You can substitute a little extra peas and asparagus for the fava beans or even cooked and quartered baby artichokes.

Serves 4 (This recipe can easily be cut in half, too!)

INGREDIENTS

For the croutons

• 3 cups lightly packed rustic bread, like sweet baguette or ciabatta, ripped into 1-inch pieces

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, roughly chopped

• ¼ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

• ¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal or a scant ½ teaspoon Morton’s kosher salt

For the beans & assembly

• 3 cups cooked beans (see headnote)

• 3 to 4 cups homemade or good-quality vegetable or chicken stock

• 2 to 3 green garlic stalks

• Kosher salt, to taste

• 6 ounces asparagus

• 1 cup fresh of frozen English peas

• ⅔ cup fava beans, shelled, blanched, and removed from their outer skins

• 2 lemons

• Extra virgin olive oil, for finishing

• Freshly cracked black pepper, for finishing

• Tender green herbs, like dill, parsley or mint, for finishing (optional)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. In a large bowl combine 3 lightly packed cups torn rustic bread, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons roughly fresh tarragon, ¼ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and ¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal or a scant ½ teaspoon Morton’s kosher salt. Using your hands mix everything together, gently pressing the cheese so it sticks to the bread (don’t worry if there is some cheese and herbs left at the bottom of the bowl). Spread the dressed bread onto a sheet pan in a single layer and sprinkle any leftover cheese and herbs over the bread. Bake for 10 minutes, then using a spatula, flip the croutons, and return to the oven until golden brown and crisp, 5 to 8 more minutes.

3. While the croutons are baking, trim the woody ends off 6 to 8 ounces asparagus. Slice the stalks of asparagus into ¼-inch rounds (I like them to be about the size of the beans I am using) and leave the tips about 1 to 1½ inches. Then, trim the top couple inches of 2 to 3 stalks green garlic, remove the root end, and thinly slice the rest. Set aside.

4. Combine 3 cups cooked beans and 3 to 4 cups homemade or good-quality vegetable or chicken stock (I like 3, but if you want it a little soupier or are adding meat, go with 4) in a large pot and bring to a gentle boil over medium high heat. Add the reserved sliced green garlic and cook until it starts to soften, 2 minutes. Taste and season with salt (I do this by taste because the saltiness of beans and stock varies). Add the 1 cup fresh shelled of frozen English peas and cook for 2 minutes, then add the reserved cut asparagus and cook until all the vegetables are tender-crisp, 2 to 4 more minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in ⅔ cup blanched, shelled fava beans, if using.

5. To serve, transfer to a shallow serving bowl or individual bowls. Zest 2 lemons and sprinkle a generous amount over each serving. Then, slice the lemons into quarters and serve to squeeze over tableside. Finish with a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil, freshly cracked black pepper and a handful of torn green herbs. Serve immediately.

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Make-ahead: You can make the beans a few days ahead of time (this is a great recipe if you like to cook a big pot of beans and use them in different dishes all week long). Then, all you have to do is heat the beans and add the vegetables come mealtime.

The croutons can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Choose-Your-Own-Crouton-Adventure: Croutons are such a good vehicle for a variety of flavorings. You can use other tender green herbs like marjoram or chervil, and even heartier herbs, like rosemary and thyme (but make sure to dial back the amount to 1 to 1½ tablespoons for sturdy guys like those). If you want to make this vegan, you can omit the cheese and combine the herbs with spices or blends, such as smoked paprika, chili flakes, dukkah, or za’atar.

Add a little meat, if you’d like: While these brothy beans are a vegetarian delight on their own, they would also be wonderful with turkey meatballs or shrimp poached in the broth with the beans before adding all the green vegetables. Or, you could render some bacon or pancetta, adding the cooked meat to the soup and using the rendered fat to make the croutons. If you’re in a hurry, you could also add some shredded rotisserie chicken to bulk things up. If you’re adding meat, I would lean towards the 4 cups of stock end of the spectrum.