In this brothy beans recipe, caramelizing fennel, shallots, and lemon builds a base layer that is sweet, tangy, and bright. Tinned sardines add briney flavor (and protein!)—leave them whole or break them up and fold them into the soup. And chopped celery or mushrooms work just as well as fennel if you want to swap. This recipe is part of the 2021 Feel Good Food Plan, our eight-day dinner plan for starting the year off right.
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
1
1
¼
2
6
½
¼
6
2
1
1
Preparation
Step 1
Slice fennel bulb in half lengthwise and cut each half lengthwise into 3 wedges. Thinly slice 1 lemon half into rounds and wriggle out and discard any seeds; leave remaining half intact and set aside.
Step 2
Heat oil in a medium pot over medium-high. Add fennel, shallots, garlic, hardy herbs, lemon rounds, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until fennel and lemon are softened slightly and golden brown in spots, 5–7 minutes.
Step 3
Using tongs, transfer lemon rounds to a small bowl; set aside. Add wine to pot and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until fennel is tender, about 5 minutes. Add beans and simmer until beans soak up some of the broth and are warmed through, 8–10 minutes.
Step 4
Meanwhile, working one at a time, slice open each sardine with the tip of a paring knife and remove any visible bones; discard. Separate fillets from one another and place in a small bowl. Squeeze juice from remaining reserved lemon half over fillets.
Step 5
Fish out and discard any hardy herbs and stems you can from braise. Stir in parsley; taste and season broth with more salt if needed.
Step 6
Divide braise among bowls; top with reserved lemon slices and sardines. Serve with bread alongside.
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Reviews (51)
Back to TopBTW I just realized that sardines are not listed in the ingredients. Hello?!
Janet- from previous
CA
5/1/2021
I’ve made this 3 times now and it’s wonderful. I’ve been halving the recipe to make it for 2, but end up still using a whole lemon (Meyer) and the entire tin of sardines as garnish. Also I cut down on the chicken stock by about 20%, adding water. Quick delicious dinner.
Janet
CA
5/1/2021
I found this to be poorly written and a sloppy effort. The fennel absolutely doesn’t get soft snd looking like the picture in the time specified, it needs double or tripple but not all with the beans or they will get too mushy. But overall, the soup was kinda boring / it’s just chicken broth with beans snd fennel and lacking depth of flavor or complexity. Maybe dried shitakes would help. Also less lemon on the sardines which made it too acidic.
Peter D
Baltimore, MD
2/19/2021
I combined these instructions and the suggestions from the feedback to make this recipe. Absolutely fabulous!!! Cook the rinsed great northern beans in broth, garlic, herbs and lemon rind on high for 30 mins in my Instant Pot, then combined with sardines, fennel, red onion, in a Dutch oven, sprinkle with parm cheese and broil for 5 mins. Top with parsley and serve with bread ... dreamy!
Anonymous
Jacksonville, FL
2/6/2021
Using shallots in a recipe with such bold flavors is just a waste of good shallots. More of a vote to prissy home cooks that like to think a shallot is upmarket. As written, this recipe is essentially just bean soup with fennel and a sardine garnish. Overall, it's is a sloppy effort at what could be a hearty, rich braise, but it's just a soupy mess. It reminds me of common braises in Liguria or Tuscany, but without the flavor development of good Italian cuisine. Before doing anything, zest the whole lemon, and add zest to the broth that you'll use later. Use a half of a large red onion, cut into three wedges (or a whole small one, cut in quarters). Place the onions, fennel wedges, half the garlic cloves (still in their paper)and both lemon halves, cut-sides-down, in a cast iron skillet or on a silpat in a rimmed baking sheet, and dry roast then at high temp, to caramelize them. When they are fully cooked, cut each fennel wedge in half, reserving the root-half (the side with the core that holds it together) to the side While the veggies roast, cook 1½ cups ofsoaked, DRIED beans, together with the remaining (peeled) garlic cloves, the herbs (NOT incl the parsley), in the 6 cups of broth (Instant Pot works great here), and when the beans are tender, and the liquid is reduced to the consistency of tinned baked beans (or a hearty chili com carne), gently combine them with the parsley, the paste from the roasted garlic cloves, the roasted onions and the stalk-end of each fennel quarter, and the juice of one lemon half. If necessary,add additional broth (or water) to achieve the proper consistency. Divide the mixture between individual cassolets or gratin dishes (any individual-sized oven-safe dishes will do). Top the dishes with the remaining root-ends if the fennel wedges and the sardine fillets, and then squeeze the remaining lemon half over the top of each gratin. Roast in a hot oven until bubbly, and lightly charred on top. Optionally, you could top each dish with grated cheese of your choice, or even breadcrumbs. Serve with additional lemon wedges for each guest. THAT'S how you augment the boldness of the flavors, and keep the fennel & sardines from being lost in "bean soup."
H Neil M
Orlando, FL
2/2/2021
While we enjoyed this and would make again, we would make some changes. I would recommend cooking the fennel for much longer and cutting it into smaller pieces - I think next time, we might actually roast the fennel first. I also think we would either add more beans or only use four cups of broth just to make it less “soupy”. Otherwise, it was an easy dinner and a good mix up from our usual!
Leah
Bellingham, WA
1/27/2021
I really like this and will make again. But... I used dried beans and had enough cooking liquid to only need 2 cups of chicken broth or it would have been broth with a few beans in it. I cut the fennel wedges into 1" pieces after the sautee to make it easier to eat and added a tablespoon of lemon zest. I don't get the point of the sardines. I tried breaking them up and mixing in but they just vanished.
Dr Kix
Northern Michigan
1/27/2021