Minestrone di Fagioli e Cavolo Nero — No-Oil Tuscan Bean and Kale Soup

Other Fast Without Oil Published June 13, 2026

This is the everyday minestrone of the Tuscan winter — cannellini beans, cavolo nero, and whatever vegetables the week left behind, simmered long and slow into a thick, restorative pot. Half the beans are mashed to thicken the broth into something almost velvety, so even cooked entirely without oil it eats rich and full. It is a soup built for strict fasting days, when the cooking is plain but the bowl is anything but.

This version is written deliberately for no-oil Wednesdays and Fridays: the soffritto is sweated in water and the beans themselves provide the body. On oil days, start the soffritto in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and finish each bowl with a thread of raw oil over the top.

FASTING LEVEL: Fast Without Oil (adaptable for oil days — see notes)
SERVINGS: 6
TIME: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

- 2 cans (400g each) cannellini beans, drained, liquid reserved
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch cavolo nero (lacinato kale), stems removed, leaves shredded
- 1 can (400g) chopped tomatoes
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1.5 litres (6 cups) vegetable broth
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Red wine vinegar, to finish

METHOD

1. In a large pot, sweat the onion, carrots, and celery in 1/2 cup water over medium heat for 10 minutes until soft, adding splashes of water as it evaporates. (For oil days: sweat them in 2 tablespoons olive oil instead.)

2. Add the garlic, rosemary, and bay leaf and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes to lose their raw edge.

3. Meanwhile, mash about half the cannellini beans with a fork along with their reserved liquid until rough and creamy.

4. Add the broth, the mashed beans, the whole beans, and the zucchini. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

5. Stir in the cavolo nero and simmer another 10-15 minutes until the kale is tender and the soup has thickened. Add more broth or water if it gets too thick.

6. Remove the rosemary sprig and bay leaf. Season well with salt and pepper and finish each bowl with a few drops of red wine vinegar to lift it.

NOTES

- The mashed beans are what give a no-oil minestrone its body — do not skip that step.
- On oil days, a hard drizzle of good olive oil over each bowl transforms it; so does a clove of raw garlic rubbed on toasted bread set in the base of the bowl.
- Cavolo nero is traditional, but any sturdy kale or even savoy cabbage works.
- Like all minestrone, it is better the next day; thin with a little water when reheating.