Creamy Bean Soup with Fresh Herbs and Spinach

The next dish which the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors made is a bean soup.  Soup is comfort food especially in the colder fall and winter.  This bean soup is adapted from Cara Brunetti Hillyard and it serves 6.   Chris and Paul made this soup.

Chris and Paul made two versions of this bean soup.  One is the creamy version while another is the broth version.  The creamy version is smooth while the broth version has more texture to it.  The soup is very filing too with the beans as a source of protein.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups chopped onions (about 2 medium)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 5 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 2 x 15 to 16-ounce cans white beans, drained
• 2 x 15 to 16-ounce cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• 1 x 6-ounce package baby spinach leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
• grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Drain the beans and rinse them under running cold water.  It is especially so for the garbanzo beans and the liquid has a metallic taste to it.

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add onions and garlic and saute until onions are golden, about 15 minutes.

Add rosemary and stir for 1 minute.  Add all broth and beans.

Bring soup to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavours blend, about 10 minutes.

Working in batches, transfer soup to blender or use a hand blender to puree the soup until smooth; return to pot.  You can skip the blending if you like the soup with more texture.

Mix in sage and …

… spinach.

Stir until spinach wilts, about 1 minutes.  Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.  Ladle soup into bowls.  Sprinkle each with Parmesan cheese, if desired. Chris and Frank, thank you for making this hearty soup.

Categorized Under: 2009 • Bean

Tagged Under: Community Kitchen • Garbanzo Bean • Recipe • Soup • Spinach • White Bean