Super Bowl Italian White Bean Soup Recipe

If you're anything like us, you turn the Super Bowl into an excuse to eat very bad things, crack open a few brewskies and catch the occasional Beyoncé concert.

This year, however, we're celebrating gridiron greatness in a more meaningful way.

Our friends at the New York City Rescue Mission (a nonprofit dedicated to providing hope, food, clothing and shelter to people in crisis, where Tasting Table employees volunteer weekly) asked us to come up with a recipe to celebrate their annual Soup-er Bowl week, when the Mission makes a chef-crafted soup daily to serve those in need.

We put on our thinking helmets and drew up a game plan: a slow-cooked Italian white-bean soup with tomato paste, garlic and tubetti pasta (see the recipe).

The winning play is a topping of crispy pork cracklins–our nod to pigskin's big day.

The soup is easy to make, and it scales up nicely for a big crowd.

Kick off your party with a bowl, then save any extra cracklins in case the game goes to overtime.