Cannellini Bean Soup

Photo by Jeanetta Richardson-Anhalt from Pexels

By Jim Hingst

On a cold winter day, a bowl of cannellini bean soup is
sure to warm you up. It’s also healthy too! The white beans are a great source
of lean protein as well as providing fiber, magnesium and vitamin B6 to your
diet.

The ingredients used in
cannellini bean soup are very similar to those used in pasta e fagioli. The
vegetables include the sofrito: onions, celery and carrots along with plenty of
garlic. I also add jalapeno peppers to mine to spice it up a little.

To enrich the flavor of the
soup, you can also add a ham hock or two to the soup.

White bean soup is
traditionally made with kale or Swiss chard. This recipe, however, uses baby
spinach as a substitute.

You can modify this soup to
suit your tastes. If you have saved a piece of Parmesan cheese rind, you can
add it to your soup. This adds an umami flavor to the dish. Remember to remove
the rind along with the bay leaves at the end of cooking.

Ingredients

1 12oz. package of smoked
sausage, diced

1 ham hock (optional)

1 ½ lbs. dry cannellini or
white beans

Olive oil and butter for
sauteing

3 cans (10-ounce can) diced
tomatoes with peppers

1 28 oz. can of tomatoes

2 large onions, chopped

2 large carrots, diced
(about 1 cup)

3 large celery stalks

2 zucchinis, diced

8 garlic cloves, very thinly
sliced

6 cans of chicken broth
(approximately 96 oz. or 12 cups)

2 tablespoons red wine
vinegar

1 5oz package of baby
spinach; remove the stems and cut leaves into pieces using your kitchen shears

2 tablespoons of Italian
seasoning

2 bay leaves

Parmesan cheese sprinkled
over the top of a serving soup

Directions

Soak
the white beans in 12 cups of salted water overnight.

Sauté the
onions in olive oil and butter. When the onions become translucent and brown
slightly on the edges, add in the garlic. Continue sauteing until you can smell
the garlic – about an additional 2 to 3 minutes.

Sauté
the carrots, celery, zucchini in butter and olive oil, until the vegetables
begin to soften.

Brown
the diced sausage.

Transfer
the ingredients to your crock pot. Add all of the additional ingredients and
cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

If you
added a ham hock to your soup, you can strip away the meat from the bones.
Discard the bones.

To
thicken the soup, put a cup of cooked vegetables and beans and puree with an
immersion blender. Return the puree to the soup.

If the soup is too thick, add more chicken broth.

Remove
the bay leaves and cheese rind upon completion of the cooking cycle.

Try these other Signpost Recipes

Easy Turmeric Yellow Rice

The Best Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

The Best Beef and Cheese Enchiladas

The Best Hot Dog Toppings

Grilled Buffalo Wings

Armadillo Eggs

Meatloaf Burgers

Beer Brats

Bon Appetite!

About Jim Hingst: Sign business authority on vehicle wraps, vinyl graphics, screen printing, marketing, sales, gold leaf, woodcarving and painting.

After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer. Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 190 articles for publications, such as Signs Canada, SignCraft, Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 500 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published. Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon.