Preparation / Directions:
For the beans:
1 pound Great Northern white beans 2 carrots
2 branches of celery
1 onion
Fresh thyme
A few bay leaves
Sea salt
Place all ingredients in a pot and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a
gentle simmer
and cook until beans are done. Leave beans a bit underdone. Discard the
vegetables and
keep beans in cooking broth.
For the soup: 1 to 2 quarts of good chicken or beef broth. Chicken or beef
is a matter
of taste and the amount you use will determine how thick the soup will be.
If you serve
the soup as one course of a several course dinner you probably want to keep
the soup
rather thin. On the other hand, this soup can be served as a main course and
then could
be served quite thick.
2 or 3 carrots, chopped
2 or 3 celery stalks, chopped
1 or 2 leeks, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
A bunch of fresh spinach or red chard. (This is optional.)
Place all the ingredients except spinach or chard in a heavy pan with some
good olive oil.
Saut=E9 the vegetables without browning. Keep them firm.
Strain the beans and add them to the other vegetables. Add the amount of
stock you
want and bring to a gentle simmer. Add salt and black pepper to taste. If
you are using
spinach (my preference) or chard, coarsely chop the leaves, discarding the
stems and add
to the soup.
If you are serving the soup as a main course you may serve it accompanied by
a good
country bread and grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese.
For the wine? A Marsanne, Semillo Viognier or even a light red like a
Beaujolae or a
young Cotes du Rhone.
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