Herby Turkey & Corona Bean Soup

Herby Turkey & Corona Bean Soup

It’s that time of year again. Time for the Annual Leftover Turkey Soup. This year with beans! Huge, enormous, gigantic beans! And lots of fresh herbs. Rosemary, sage, thyme, and bay perfume a broth that is rich and flavorful. The beans are super-plump, tender and creamy.  Nutty, cheese notes brought by a sprinkling of Parmesan and piquant spice notes by red chile flakes complement the shredded roast turkey. This year’s leftover soup is a huge delectable winner!

Herby Turkey & Corona Bean Soup Recipe

Turkey Stock

Ingredients:

• turkey carcass
• onion
• carrot
• celery
• bay leaves
• black peppercorns

Method:

After Thanksgiving dinner, refrigerate the carcass (with all its meat, skin, and fat) until ready to make stock, usually within 4 days.

Depending on the size, put it in one big pot or chop the carcass in pieces. Cover the carcass with filtered water. Then add rough chopped onion, carrot, and celery, a couple bay leaves, and about 1/2 teaspoon of peppercorns.

Bring it to a boil, skim the scum, then simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Once cooled slightly, remove the carcass with a tongs then strain the stock into a clean pot. Discard all the solids, reserving the stock for soup. Optional: Strain a second time through a fine mesh sieve for a clearer stock.

Corona Beans

Ingredients:

• 10 oz. dried corona beans
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 medium celery rib
• 4 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• sea salt

Method:

Sort and rinse beans. Place in a pot and cover with cold filtered water. Soak for 6 – 8 hours.

Drain and rinse beans. Place beans back into pot and cover with 2″ of filtered water. Add roughly chopped carrot, celery, smashed garlic cloves, a glug of olive oil. Bring to a boil for 10 – 15 minutes, then simmer, partially covered. Stir and check for liquid periodically. More water will be needed. When beans are about 30 minutes from done, add salt and continue to simmer until beans are creamy and completely tender.

Note:

These beans took a very long time to cook, over 5 hours, even after soaking overnight. (The package stated Best by June 2023, so the long cooking time was probably not a factor of age). Several websites say they take between 1 hour and 6 hours to cook! The only way to know is to check your batch along the way. I suggest cooking the beans a day ahead, then refrigerate in their broth, so they are ready to go when preparing the soup recipe.

Herby Turkey Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, small dice
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 1 large celery rib, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 t. fennel seeds, toasted, lightly ground in mortal and pestle
• 6 c. turkey stock
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 2 sage sprigs
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 bay leaf sprig
• leftover turkey meat, shredded
• pre-cooked corona beans in their broth
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Method:

In a soup pot over medium heat – cook onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil until softened. Add garlic and fennel and cook for a few more minutes. Add turkey stock and herbs. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove herb sprigs. Add turkey meat and beans with bean broth to heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Garnish

Ingredients:

• butter
• sage leaves
• thyme sprigs
• red chile flakes
• grated parmesan

Method:

Sauté sage and thyme in butter until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Strip thyme leaves from the stems.

Composition

Ladle soup into warm shallow bowls. Top with Parmesan, red chile flakes, sage and thyme leaves.

Recipe inspired by Food & Wine

More Leftover Turkey Soups

Turkey Soup with Tortellini and Kale

Turkey Matzo Ball Soup

Aguadito de Pavo

“Do Nothing” Turkey Recipe

Back by popular demand is my “do nothing” turkey recipe. It couldn’t be easier and the recipe results in a perfectly cooked bird year after year. The only thing different is that this time I bought my turkey at Costco (as opposed to Whole Foods) for 99 cents a pound. Amazingly inflation proof!

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Remove neck and giblets from bird (use these for stuffing recipe here).

Rinse bird with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.

Rub interior with softened butter, salt and pepper.

Loosely stuff the cavities with roughly chopped onions, carrots, and celery.

Place bird on a roasting rack in the roasting pan, breast side up.

Rub the entire outside of the bird with softened butter, salt and pepper.

Put more roughly chopped onions, carrots and celery in the bottom of the roasting pan with about 2 -4 cups of turkey or chicken stock, depending on size of the pan.

Roast at 325°F. Leave the bird alone, don’t baste, don’t cover, just “do nothing” and then marvel at the beautiful bird when it reaches 165 to 170 degree internal temperature.

Use a remote thermometer to monitor the temperature. When the bird is at temperature, move the thermometer and check in a few other places to make sure it is cooked completely.

Remove that beauty from the oven and let it rest at least 20 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, make gravy with the juices from the roasting pan.

Note: Cook turkey on lowest rack in oven with bottom heat only. For my Wolf range I use the “bake” setting as opposed to the “roast” setting. This gives perfect bronzed skin while cooking the turkey thoroughly, without needing to cover the bird with aluminum foil.

Pictured is the 2022 champion weighing in @ 13.86 lbs.