Reviewed: Oct. 16, 2006

For a crockpot version, soak beans overnight. Saute pancetta, onions, celery and sage in a frypan and deglaze with 1/3 cup of white wine and add everything into a crockpot and cook all day on low. Whole wheat pasta optional. (but makes a complete protein). Try adding fresh rosemary for a tuscan twist!

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32 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Sara

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Living In: La Prairie, Quebec, Canada

Reviewed: Oct. 24, 2000

I cut the recipe in half and used the canned beans to make this an easy soup. We loved it. However, I think I will add less salt. I also added uncooked pasta to the soup rather than cooking it separately. My husband and I thought it was great and it tasted even better the next day!

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19 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

GEORGIA56

Reviewed: Apr. 4, 2006

Like others I add chopped carrot to this recipe for flavor and color. I also use an immersion blender to partially puree the soup after about 20 minutes of cooking - then I add the pasta to the mix so everything finishes cooking at the same time. I've made this several times over the past 2 months and it always disappears fast - my kids love it!

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16 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

LYNNIEMILANO

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Kensington, Maryland, USA

Living In: Milan, Lombardia, Italy

Reviewed: Mar. 16, 2010

I love this recipe! Pork and Sage go so well together. I used smoked ham because I felt it might be less fatty than the pancetta. Im sure its good regardless. I did add what carrots I had (two small), and I used two cans of canelli and one can of great northern beans as thats what I had. I did not use salt but added garlic salt instead. And half way through simmering I took about 3 cups of beans/onions, etc and blended to achieve a thicker soup. It wasnt thick enough so I simmered with the lid off for a bit. Holy Cow this is good soup!

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11 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

ROSIE55

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Denver, Colorado, USA

Reviewed: Nov. 16, 2007

It took some monkeyeing around with the spices after all was done to get this soup to taste right. I needed a lot more salt, although that may be because I used home made stock that didn't have too much in it. I also added some cumin for a background flavor. I skipped the pasta and instead cooked one finely diced large potato in the soup. I put about half the solids into the blender afterwards to get the right texture. I think next time I'll use bacon instead of pancetta, use commercial stock, and add a couple of dry bay leaves. I made this in the slow cooker and was looking forward to coming home to this soup all day.

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10 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

JCL

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Feb. 2, 2004

Very tasty. Added a litle white wine (1/3 cup) with the pancetta and oilive oil and reduced. Will definetly make again.

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10 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

SVUONO

Reviewed: Dec. 25, 2004

This tasted really wonderful but I think it had too much salt (and I used a low sodium chicken broth). Also, too many beans (and I like beans). But, I loved the taste (pancetta is so good, sub bacon if you can't find it) and I'll make again. I also used macaroni because that's what I had on hand and I just added it the last ten minutes of cooking, without boiling it in another pan. Thanks for sharing! Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

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6 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

amydoll

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Rockford, Illinois, USA

Reviewed: Jan. 27, 2008

Perfect healthy soup for a cold night. I added 1 cup of chopped carrots with the onion and celery, and then 6 cups of chopped escarole with the beans. Was a bit heartier with the extra veggies.

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5 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

BrandyWine

Reviewed: Feb. 19, 2010

This recipe was delicious as written. I halved the recipe, but did add another cup of broth. It was slightly salty but I think had I used low sodium broth it would have fixed that problem. I have never used pancetta, and I was pleasantly surprised at the flavor.

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4 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

TEXASTRACE

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Houston, Texas, USA

Reviewed: Jan. 11, 2010

Wonderful-made my soup with dry bean after I soaked them overnight (and cooked the soup in the crockpot all day till the beans were soft.) Sauted the vegetables in the bacon fat instead of the olive oil-then drained the vegetables and added them to the beans in the crockpot-added the bacon to the top of the soup before serving. Cooked the pasta seperately and added before serving as well to avoid the pasta soaking up all the broth.

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4 users found this review helpful