Italian Peasant Bean Soup

Serves 8


Ingredients

• 1 medium onion
• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 8 cups low sodium chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
• 1 cup of dried white cannellini or navy beans
• 2 large cloves of garlic
• 1 - 14 oz can of mixed beans, or white haricot beans
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped Italian flat parsley


Preparation

1. Chop the onion, tomatoes and celery into even-sized chunks and toss together. Chop in small batches in a food processor or by hand, as finely as possible.

2. Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in pot and add the vegetables. Stir over high heat for 10-12 minutes to enrich the vegetables. Add salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar.

3. Add 8 cups of chicken stock – homemade or purchased low-sodium.  *Swanson sells an Organic broth with 1/3 less sodium.

4. Add the cannellini or navy beans raw, rinsed, from the package.

5. Cover the soup and simmer for 1 ½ hours until the beans are almost cooked. Stir occasionally to ensure the beans do not stick.

6. Add 2 large cloves of fresh garlic, finely chopped. Cook another 15 minutes.

7. Drain and rinse the can of mixed beans. Add to the soup.

8. Add the chopped Italian parsley and heat through. Serve with crisp French or Italian Bread.

You can add cooked chicken, spinach, cooked rice or cooked pasta to make a heartier soup.
You can vary the amount of pepper and garlic – if you like a spicier soup – add more pepper & garlic.  Keep tasting it until you feel it has enough salt, pepper & garlic to your liking.


Tips

• Italian parsley is sometimes called continental parsley – and the leaves are flat unlike the curly regular parsley.
You can chop it using kitchen scissors. Wash and dry it. Put the parsley in a glass and snip it inside the glass.

• Always store tomatoes at room temperature as the fridge tends to make the inside