Tuscan White Bean and Sausage Soup

If your weather outside has been as soggy and cold as mine, it means it’s time to curl up at home with a hot bowl of soup!

I made this amazing Tuscan White Bean with Sausage Soup on Saturday and it fed us the entire day. The baby had some, too.

All you need is a bag of small white beans (16 oz, but you will only use half), 1 medium onion, 2 carrots, fresh rosemary (roughly 1 tsp), 2 cloves of garlic, some olive oil, 2 cubes of chicken bouillon, and ground sausage. And a loaf of crusty bread - very important. Basically, what I am trying to say is that this soup is CHEAP to make. But really, really GOOD and FILLING.

Directions:

Clean and sort small white beans. Soak overnight.

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté diced onion, diced carrots, and rosemary until vegetables are soft. Stir in minced garlic. Let it cook for 5-6 minute. Add 6 cups of water, 8 oz of small white beans, and 2 cubes of chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer until beans are tender, about 2 hours.

While you wait, sauté 1/2 pound of ground sausage. More or less depending on your preference. Or you can omit it all together for a vegetarian meal. Set it aside.

DO THIS BEFORE YOU ADD THE SAUSAGE INTO THE SOUP: To thicken the soup, stick an immersion blender (best Christmas present ever) into the pot and swirl it around for a while. The key is to process half of the soup smooth, but leave the other half chunky. If you don’t have an immersion blender, a food processor will do the trick…but you just need to transfer half of the soup to the food processor...more dishes to wash.

Add sausage to the soup. Bring everything to a boil and you are done.

Healthy and delicious. High in fiber and protein.