white bean soup

This easy recipe comes together in 30 minutes and uses staples from your pantry. It’s hearty and full of plant based protein. I omitted the cream (I don’t love cream in my soups and didn’t miss it) and sprinkled home-made sourdough croutons over the top. A can of fire-roasted tomatoes is preferable to regular canned tomatoes - they add depth to it. Delicious! Just what I needed last week when I was sick at home with a cold. This recipe comes from the blog ‘How Sweet Eats’.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 sweet onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

kosher salt and pepper

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

1 (14-ounce can) fire roasted tomatoes

2 (14-ounce cans) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 parmesan rind

1 cup heavy cream (omit if you want)

½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping

5 ounces fresh spinach, frozen is fine too

crushed red pepper, for topping

Creating the Magic!

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the onions soften a bit, for 5 minutes or so.

Stir in the tomato paste, basil, oregano and thyme. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring often, until the tomato paste darkens in color.

Add in the tomatoes, beans, stock and parmesan rind. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Cover for the last 10 minutes.

Remove the lid and stir in the cream. Stir in the parmesan cheese and the spinach. Cook for 5 to 10 more minutes, stirring often, as the cheese melts and spinach wilts. Taste and season the soup additionally with salt and pepper as needed.

Serve immediately, topping with extra parmesan and crushed red pepper.