Tuscan White Bean & Garlic Soup

Weekend was awesome, the weather continuing to cool off more & more. There was quality time with family, dinner sidewalk-cafe style in our quaint little town, running around on a Sunday afternoon, getting fun stuff for the house, indulging in wings & beer, & some sampling of more of Giada's goodies from her new cookbook I am loving.

I also got a lot done around the house which just felt incredible - Fall cleaning, organizing......

This soup was excellent for lunch with my parents, served with some fresh Ciabatta bread. I will definitely be making this again with just one change. See my thoughts below. And aside from the cream, this was very healthy!

See those little things to the left of the pumpkin? Those were little linguine fritattas from Giada but one of many things that just don't come out right some time. They're from her new cookbook & while they have potential there are so many things I would change if I were to make them again.

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
2 sage leaves
2 15-oz cans cannelloni beans, drained & rinsed
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
5 cloves garlic, cut in 1/2
1/2 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place a medium, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil & shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sage, beans & garlic & stir to combine. Add the stock & bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook gently for about 15 minutes. Pour half of the the soup into a large bowl. Carefully ladle 1/3 to 1/2 of the soup into a blender & puree until smooth.

Be careful to hold the top of the blender tightly, as hot liquids expand when they are blended. Pour the blended soup back into the pot. Puree the soup remaining in bowl. Once all the soup is blended & back in the soup pan, add the cream & the pepper.

Keep warm, covered, over very low heat.

My Thoughts

Per the instructions I only blended half of the soup but I am starting to think I should have blended all of it. Although I do like having the beans whole in the soup I would have also liked this a bit thicker. So, next time, I will blend most of it & add another can of beans to the soup to leave whole.

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