Stirring a raw egg yolk into each bowl at the end adds silkiness, heft, and protein. But this dish is satisfying without it, too. The secret to delicious-tasting beans is infusing the cooking liquid with aromatics like onions and garlic, then seasoning it liberally at the end until it's just shy of salty.
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
1
1
4
1½
1
2
⅓
2
8
2
4
Preparation
Step 1
Bring onion, carrot, smashed garlic, beans, and 14 cups water to a boil in a medium pot, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are creamy but still intact, 70–90 minutes (time will vary depending on size and age of beans). Using a slotted spoon, transfer beans to a medium bowl; discard onion, carrot, and garlic.
Step 2
Return broth in pot to a boil and add farro. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until grains are tender, 25–30 minutes. Remove from heat and return beans to pot; season generously with salt. Let sit 15 minutes to infuse beans and grains with flavor. (If you have the time, cook the beans and the grains a day ahead so they can really soak up the broth. If not, no worries—just keep going.)
Step 3
Cook chopped garlic, chiles, and ⅓ cup oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until garlic is golden, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in rosemary. Transfer chile-garlic oil to a small bowl; season with salt.
Step 4
Wipe out skillet and heat remaining 3 Tbsp. oil over medium-high. Cook mushrooms, undisturbed, until browned underneath, about 2 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, tossing every so often, until mushrooms are browned and crisp in most spots, another 6–8 minutes. Splash vinegar over mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and give skillet a few shakes to combine.
Step 5
Ladle stew into bowls and top each with some crisped mushrooms and an egg yolk (if using); drizzle with chile-garlic oil.
Step 6
Break egg yolk and stir into soup just before eating to give it a more silky consistency.
Step 7
Do Ahead: Stew (without mushrooms, egg yolks, and chile-garlic oil) can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill.
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Reviews (29)
Back to TopWish I had actually read the reviews before making... don't understand how a recipe with so many bad comments has a 4.3 star rating. Then I realised the ratings meter is broken... I tried to rate 1 star but it came up 5! Anyway, this is a very bland, dull, labour intensive soup. I didn't understand why it's popular... until I realised, it's THAT Bon Apetit! The one I keep hearing about the terrible racist work culture staffed with hipsters who don't really know much about food, but know a lot about fashion and food photography. This is food for non-foodies.
Anonymous
Sydney, Australia
3/27/2021
Is 14 cups of water in a medium pot right for the first step? That seems like a LOT of H20.
ExpensiveCheese
Brooklyn
3/10/2021
Not as flavorful as I would have liked. Raw egg didn't work out too well. Wouldn't make it again.
Anonymous
California
10/18/2020
I, too, heard about this from “The Splendid Table” podcast and was impressed with the result. This is a craveable dish that I make repeatedly, (without the eggs, due to allergy)). I even keep the rosemary garlic chili oil out to put on other dishes. The layers of flavor and texture pop in my mouth. Shitakes and maiitakes together work for me. I first ordered gigante beans for a special occasion meal, but now mostly use limas which I prefer. I use less water than indicated because I make it in a pressure cooker and I also keep the veggies in the soup. Thank you for this recipe.
leaminda
Sedona
6/7/2020
Andy waxed poetic about this dish last winter on The Splendid Table, and it really didn't live up to the hype. This is just another example of a BA recipe asking you to devote hours of your life for a very mediocre result. I'm tired of BA posting pretty pictures without explaining how they get there. If you want a nice clear broth, you've got to cook your beans without even a hint of a simmer. If you're not skilled at cooking beans with such fuss, use a slow cooker for clear broth. But then, when you cook your Farro in the bean liquid, the Farro will release a ton of starch and make your bean liquid cloudy anyway. So, why did they post such a nice photo? To get you to make it. They probably cooked their Farro in a pot of salted water and drained the water so as not to muddy the dish when taking photos. I am tired of food stylists. That being said, this dish is tasty if you like beans, grains, mushrooms, and spicy food, and investing hours of your time into simple food.
Anonymous
Los Angeles, CA
6/5/2020
Awesome awesome soup recipe! I used regular white beans in place of lima or other big beans because I couldn't find any, and I used quick cook farro from Trader Joe's. Just adjust the times of cooking accordingly (always stand by and taste every so often!). Definitely make a little more broth than it calls for, I ended up dumping some chicken stock in at the end to make more. Also, add miso! I added a couple tablespoons in the beginning and it made everything better. Yolk is also a must!
Anonymous
Las Vegas, Nevada
5/29/2020
This was really great! I'm in NYC and stuck in the house, so all day cooking projects are quite welcome. Some changes - I chopped carrots and two onions instead of leaving whole and we kept them in the broth. I used dried shitakes and used their soaking liquid in the broth. We replaced the farro with cauliflower rice. We had some of the jarred crunchy chili garlic so I used that instead of making chili oil. We had fresh sourdough multiseed bread that I made earlier in the weed to go with it and it was really delicious! I agree with the previous comment that it's a bit fussy but if you don't mind it, it's worth the end result!
Ari Schnabel
NYC
3/27/2020