Creamy White Bean Soup

I had expected to put away my soup pot by this time of the year but the weather hasn't warmed up enough to cool my cravings. In fact, we've had some pretty chilly nights where all I want to do is climb into my warm bed with a bowl of soup. And since I ran across this tasty looking concoction on one of my favorite blogs, I figured it was well worth putting the soup pot to some more use. Stephanie from Sarcastic Cooking has so many wonderful savory meal options along with stunning photographs and this soup was no exception.

She chose to make her version vegan by using vegetable broth but I only had chicken stock on hand. Either way this soup is hearty, healthy and packed with flavor  I messed with some of her ingredients and quantities, as we cooks tend to do, but her recipe was my base and my inspiration. And if you're not already reading her blog, I highly recommend it. Enjoy!








Ingredients
(Adapted from Sarcastic Cooking)
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 Cup all purpose flour
1 Onion, peeled and chopped
2 Cloves garlic, minced
2 Cans (approx. 15 oz.) white (cannellini) beans, drained and rinsed
3 Cups chicken stock (I used low fat, low sodium)
1/2 Cup milk (I used low fat)
1 Teaspoon dried oregano
1 Teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Salt & pepper to taste

Add the butter, onion and garlic to a Dutch oven or other large stock pot and cook on medium low heat for approximately 15 minutes or until the onions are translucent but not browned. Whisk in the flour and slowly whisk in the chicken stock. Add the beans, oregano and thyme and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.

Working in batches, add the soup to a blender or food processor and puree. Be careful not to overfill or the hot liquid will leak out of the blender. You can puree all the soup or leave it as chunky as you like. This can also be done right in the pot with an immersion (stick) blender. Place the soup back in the stock pot and turn the heat to medium. Add the milk and season to taste. Serve hot and top with shaved Parmesan cheese, if desired. Makes approximately 6 servings.