Zuppa de Fagioli di Colore Violaceo

In other words, Purplish Bean Soup. Don't adjust the color on your screen... this soup really has a violet hue. Not so typical for a nice rainy day bean soup, and why purple?

Purple-skinned carrots freshly harvested from our winter garden, delicious and beautiful as they are, turned the broth and everything in it a lovely but unexpected lavender shade. The description on the seed package may have been a bit of an understatement, as about 3/8" of the flesh beyond the skin was this lovely intense bright violet. A little research confirmed my guess that these colorful carrots pack a phytochemical punch (those pigment-based bioactive compounds that are known to protect against disease) much greater then the usual orange-alone variety.

My Vivid Mirepoix

This recipe was adapted from David Tanis' Zuppa de Fagioli in his lovely cookbook, A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes. Mr. Tanis' minimal approach is entirely enticing, and his book is beautiful. He may not necessarily nod to the violet quality of this knock-off version of his soup, but I believe he'd heartily approve of some other of my additions and changes.

Enormous butter beans, for instance, replaced his smaller white beans. I added some chard, thyme and rosemary from the garden and used about twice as much garlic as originally called for.

Inspired by our freezer full of local lamb, a browned a lamb shank was dropped into the soup pot, replacing Mr. Tanis' smoked ham hocks. In the end, the marrow was scooped from the bone and whisked into the broth, adding a silky texture and additional flavor. The small amount of meat made the soup a bit heartier for a chilly autumn afternoon in the northwest, but still let the vegetables and beans take the lead.

The rousing licorice-y aroma of the fennel crushing in the mortar had me humming La Donna e Mobile under my breath. With garlic bread and a nice bottle of Dolcetto, once again we could have been in the Italian countryside.

Zuppa deFagioli

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
• 5 celery stalks and leaves, finely diced
• 3 chubby carrots, finely diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 4 cups roughly chopped chard, stems removed, leaves reserved
• 1 large bunch fresh thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4 cups (2 pounds) dried white beans, picked over, rinsed and soaked overnight
• 1 medium lamb shank, well browned
• 6 cups high-quality chicken stock
• 4 cups water
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, finely crushed in a mortar or spice mill
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper

To finish:

• High quality, flavorful olive oil
• Finely chopped rosemary leaves

Warm the 3 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the diced onions, celery and carrots and cook gently until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaves and chopped chard stems and cook for a minute more.

Add the white beans, browned lamb shank and thyme and rosemary sprigs. Cover with the stock and water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low. Simmer gently for an hour, stirring occasionally.

Add the ground fennel, red pepper flakes, and a good spoonful of salt. Continue cooking for 1 hour more, or until the beans are quite tender and the lamb shank has begun to fall apart.

During the last 10 minutes of cooking, stir in the roughly chopped chard leaves.

Serve in large soup bowls. Drizzle flavorful finishing olive oil on top and sprinkle with chopped rosemary. Viola!