White Cannellini Bean Soup Recipe

This is my most recent adventure in soup. I have prepared it 1/2 dozen times without fail and it always pleasing on a cold day. This Italian style soup goes great with pasta, steak or pork. Sprinkle some fresh parsley to gourmet it up and serve hot. It makes 4 portions.

This recipe takes about 5 minutes of prep time, 35 minutes of cooking time and just a couple of minutes to blend and serve. If you have leftovers, let it cool and it will easily last two more days in the refrigerator.

White Cannelini Bean Soup:

Combine in a saucepan or medium sized pot:
	1 Can (19oz/540ml) Cannellini Beans (aka White Kidney Beans) - Do not rinse or drain.
	1 Tetra-Pak (900ml) No Salt Added Chicken Stock
	1 Sweet White or Vidalia Onion Chopped
	8 Cloves of Garlic (peeled)
	1/4 TSP Fresh Ground Pepper
Garnish with:
	2 TBSP of Chopped Italian Coarse Parsley
Steps:
	1) Bring to boil beans, and other items listed above.
	2) Cover and cook for 25 minutes on medium-low heat or until garlic is softened.
	3) Using an immersion blender puree the soup until smooth or use a blender and perform in batches. (See down below for blending tips.)
	4) Garnish with chopped Parsley and serve.

All that you need to make the soup:

The soup before boiling:

The soup after blending and prior to adding parsley garnish:

Bon Appetit! 

What I learned in making blended soups:

It is a pain to puree soup in batches in a classic blender.  It is more dishes to clean, far noisier and your soup cools in the process.  Having a hand blender makes life far easier.  Also, you need not worry about presentation when chopping the vegetables, etc.  Just get the pieces small enough to get into the blenders blades. 

I recommend for $40 a Cuisineart Hand Blender because they are inexpensive and easily found.  However the plastic coupling that connects the motor shaft to the blender is cheaply made and is prone to melt.  I have returned two of them to the Bay in the first couple of months.  But, the solution is simple, blend for a minute, let the hand blender relax and then blend again for another minute until the soup is smooth.  Giving the motor and drive shaft opportunity to cool.  I also use this blender to make homemade hummus and other fresh dips.