02-10-2010

White Bean & Vegetable Soup

White Bean & Vegetable Soup

And now for something completely different: a recipe. I’ve been working on the perfect vegetarian soup recipe, and I think this is one! The key ingredient is rosemary, which adds a ton of flavor, but be careful not to overdo it. I like to use fresh tortellini for the pasta, but really any kind of soup pasta will work well. Rainbow grocery usually has good, fresh tortellini at a decent price.

Ingredients

Preparation

Heat the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. Sauté the vegetables for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant. Add the stock, tomatoes, beans, chard and rosemary. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the pasta, increase heat to medium, and cook until tender. If using dried pasta, add an additional 2 cups of water when adding the stock.

Remove from heat, transfer to soup bowls, top with cheese, and serve. Serves 6.

* Mushroom stock can be hard to find, but it gives the soup a very rich flavor. You can make your own, or try to find mushroom bullion. I use Star bullion, found at Far West Fungi, and pictured below:

Mushroom bullion