Rosemary White Bean Soup

Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten

• 1 pound dried white cannellini beans
• 4 cups sliced yellow onions (3 onions)
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large branch fresh rosemary (6 to 7 inches) (I used dried but fresh is better)
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, cover the beans with water by at least 1-inch and leave them in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight. Drain.
In a large stockpot over low to medium heat, saute the onions with the olive oil until the onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook over low heat for 3 more minutes. Add the drained white beans, rosemary, chicken stock, and bay leaf. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the beans are very soft. Remove the rosemary branch and the bay leaf. Pass the soup through the coarsest blade of a food mill, or place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until coarsely pureed. Return the soup to the pot to reheat and add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve hot.

Results: DELICIOUS!!  I've been on a roll again lately!  This came from the Ina book I got for Christmas!  Thanks P!  This soup needs surprisingly little salt to be awesome.  Oh and you don't need to use dry beans if you can't find them.  Canned white kidney beans, white northern beans, cannellini beans, whatever.  Any old white bean will do!  I put them in a bit later in the cooking process (in the last 20 minutes) since they were already fully cooked.  I used an immersion blender instead of a food mill or processor.  The beans make this soup nice and creamy and delicious.  Rashan was very surprised to be satisfied with soup and bread for lunch.  I now work in a soup kitchen.  LOL  I would've liked a little bit more color but ah well!