Jamie's Bread + Borlotti Bean Soup

This is an exclusive recipe from Jamie Oliver's cookbook '20 Minute Meals - Real Fast Food'

If you can't get hold of borlotti beans, Jamie also recommends cannellini, butter beans or chickpeas. Use what you love!

Credits: published by Penguin Michael Joseph © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2026, 20 Minute Meals: Real Fast Food).
Recipe photography: © David Loftus, 2026.

Jamie Oliver

Feeds: 3

Takes: 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 jar Queen Borlotti Beans – with their bean stock (or 2 x 400g tins of borlotti beans)

olive oil

1 bunch of sage (20g)

500g frozen chopped mixed onion, carrot & celery

2 cloves of garlic

300g stale sourdough bread

2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes

700ml veg or chicken stock

25g Parmesan cheese

1 x 125g ball of mozzarella cheese

extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1

Turn the grill on to high. Put a large shallow ovenproof casserole pan on a medium-high heat with 4 tablespoons of olive oil and pick in the sage leaves. Fry until crispy, then remove to a plate, leaving the fragrant oil behind.

2

Add the chopped mixed veg to the pan, then peel, finely slice and add the garlic, along with a splash of water. Cover and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3

Chop the bread into 3cm chunks. Turn the heat up to high and pour the tomatoes into the pan, breaking them up with your spoon, then go in with the beans, juice and all, the stock and the bread. Stir and mash it up together for 5 minutes, then finely grate in the Parmesan and season to perfection.

4

Tear over the mozzarella, then carefully transfer to under the grill for 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the soup is bubbling away. Sprinkle over the crispy sage, and finish with a few drips of extra virgin olive oil, if you like

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