White Bean Soup with Pasta

Whether you're a vegetarian or not, I encourage you to buy this book. It's basically a bible for delicious, flavorful, meat-free recipes that anyone who eats can enjoy. I've shared one recipe with you guys already from this book, and last week, I made another one - which was just as successful. I only changed a few things about the recipe, mainly to make it less time consuming and more economical for me (i.e., using canned beans versus dried).

White Bean Soup with Pasta
Adapted from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone"
Yields: 8-10 servings
-2 cups canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
-2 tbsp. olive oil
-2 tsp. dried rosemary
-1 onion, finely diced
-2 carrots, finely diced
-1 celery stalk, finely diced
-5 garlic cloves, sliced
-1/3 cup chopped parsley
-1 cup diced canned tomatoes, with their juices
-Salt and black pepper, to taste
-1 cup dried fusilli pasta (or any pasta you prefer)
-Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1.) Heat the oil with rosemary in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until the onion is softened and starting to color, about 10 minutes.
2.) Stir in the garlic and parsley and cook for a few minutes more. Add cannellini beans to the pot along with the tomatoes and 3 quarts water. Bring to a boil, lower heat, then simmer, covered, about 30 minutes.
3.) Season soup with salt and pepper, and let cook for 15-20 minutes more (or longer, if desired).
4.) Puree half the soup to give it some body (or leave it thin - I pureed half of mine, because I like my soups a little thicker). For a thicker, smooth soup, puree all of it.
5.) Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, then drain. Ladle the soup into bowls and add some pasta to each. Sprinkle Parmesan over each bowl and serve (we enjoyed ours with some When Pigs Fly bread).

This soup is perfect for a cold night - the broth was silky and flavorful, and I loved the varying textures in every single bite. Soups usually don't fill me up, but between the pasta, beans and load of vegetables, this ended up being one satisfying bowl of soup. 

I need to start making more soups! What are some of your favorites to make once the weather turns cold?

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