EDITOR’S NOTE:
Kacy is back with a new easy vegetarian recipe! She wanted to provide an awesome vegetarian alternative to my white bean and chicken soup. I have sampled her white bean soup and it rocks!
EASY RECIPE
White Bean Soup with Roasted Garlic and Spinach
Ingredients:
One package of dried white beans
One head of garlic
10 sage leaves
1 medium sprig of rosemary
1 medium sprig of thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
One shallot and or one medium onion
1-2 cups veggie broth
A touch of milk
2 handfuls of baby spinach
Preparation:
Soak your beans according to the instructions on the package.
After the beans soak, rinse them, and cover add water until beans are covered with a couple inches. Add the sage, rosemary and thyme to the beans and bring to a boil. Simmer for at least 2 hours…..until beans are tender. About 10-15 minutes into the boil, remove the rosemary and thyme. Much of the leaves will have fallen off, just make sure you get the “twig” part out of the water.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375. Cut the end off of a head of garlic, place it in a foil boat, drizzle with olive oil, close the top of the foil loosely around the garlic and roast for about 45 minutes, until tender.
In a skillet, drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil and add your onion or shallot. Sauté the onion mixture until tender.
When the beans are just tender, set aside a cup of beans. Remove the sage leaves and any large pieces of herbs. Add the onions/ shallots to the pot of beans along with about a cup or two of light veggie broth. Add the roasted garlic. The cloves of garlic should just pop out when squeezed.
Next, transfer the beans, garlic & onions in the pot to a blender and puree them (or use a submersion blender – I love this tool!!) Puree until super smooth.
Return puree beans to pot, add the beans that were set aside and maybe a touch of milk….depending on the consistency you most enjoy. Finally, just before you serve the soup add the spinach and simmer briefly. I prefer the stems cut off for this recipe.
I love to top this soup off with a couple of sautéed sage leaves and some parm reggiano or asiago cheese and of course a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil.
AND STUFF
Kacy is a great cook and photographer, but so far I have not been able to get her to pen an And Stuff story. All I can think of is that, unlike me, she does not have endless stories of dumb things she has done that she can draw from. No worries, her great and easy vegetarian white bean, garlic and spinach soup is all we need.
Good Eating and Table Talk,
Kacy
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