Tunisian Crochet On Demand banner ad
50 Knit Stitches banner ad
Learn to Knit banner ad
Crochet & Knit Essential Skills banner ad
dabbles and babbles logo

Everyday Creative Adventures

Tuscan White Bean Soup

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I L.O.V.E. soup!!! I don’t know why exactly but this obsession started about 6-7 years. Whoa, as I just typed that sentence I had a flashback – actually, I take back that former statement…I do know how this obsession started.

A few years after having my daughter I realized that I really hadn’t lost all my baby weight. I think for the first while after having a child you’re so deep into mommyhood that you barely have time to even look in the mirror. I woke up one morning and had a serious look at myself and decided it was time to do battle.

Overall, I’ve been fortunate enough that my weight hasn’t really been a huge issue prior in my life so diets had never entered my realm of existence. I was too embarrassed to ask friends what their experiences had been – I was determined to do this on my own without anyone knowing. Enter Weight Watchers. I had known a few people who had experienced really great success with this program and knew I needed something to keep me accountable. I really didn’t need to lose a ton of weight – I just didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin and knew I was past my own personal comfort zone. I signed up in the early fall and by Christmas, I had surpassed my goal weight by about 5 pounds – victory!!!

Now, getting back to our soup… I feel like my weight loss success was mostly due to getting a handle on portion control but also altering my typical eating habits, in particular, my lunches. I used to eat out or have huge leftovers for lunches. Instead, I switched up my lunches by taking homemade soup to work every day for my lunch. My go-to lunches were my homemade Chicken noodle, roasted butternut squash soup or vegetable soups.

Now, years down the road from my initial foray into soups, that lunch time soup habit has stuck. I was looking for a new soup that had lots of protein but that didn’t involve meat and I discovered bean soups. Now, I have to tell you, this Tuscan White Bean Soup is absolutely incredible. It’s thick and creamy and brimming with flavor. Honestly, it’s outstanding! I’ve made this soup for a number of people now and they always ask for the recipe. So, without further ado, here’s my Tuscan White Bean Soup.

TUSCAN WHITE BEAN SOUP RECIPE

Modified from Giada De Laurentiis’s recipe here.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tbsp of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 small potatoes, cubed and parboiled
  • 2 sage leaves
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans/white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable stock)
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 1 tbsp parmesan or asiago cheese
  • 4 pieces of bacon or back bacon cooked and diced into small pieces
  • 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

  1. Place a medium, heavy soup over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil, potatoes, and shallot. Cook, stirring occasionally until the shallots soften.
  2. Add sage, sun-dried tomatoes and beans – stir and combine.
  3. Add the stock and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the garlic and simmer until the garlic has softened, about 10-15 minutes.
  4. Pour the soup into a large bowl. Carefully ladle 3/4 (or all if you don’t want any full beans) of the soup into a blender and puree until smooth – make sure to hold the lid tightly on the blender while pureeing the beans.
  5. Pour the blended soup back into the soup pot.
  6. Add salt, pepper, cheese and bacon to the soup. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.
  7. Serve immediately or ladle into containers for the freezer.

Download the Tuscan White Bean Soup recipe here.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Check out some of my other recipes including Curried Apple Egg Salad Sandwich, Double chocolate pecan cookiesThe ultimate rice krispie squareBest salad everNo bake energy ballsthe best chicken soup you’ll ever eatBailey’s dipped toasted marshmallowszucchini quinoa pattiesperfect chocolate chip cookiesmarinated feta cheeseMediterranean humus.

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Sign up to receive email updates daily
and to hear what’s going on with us

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Sign up to receive email updates daily
and to hear what’s going on with us
Crochet Fundamentals On Demand banner ad
Ultimate Crochet Stitch Library On Demand banner ad
Amigurumi On Demand banner ad

popular

Crocheting Anything with Rectangles banner ad
Crocheting Anything with Hexagons banner ad
Crafts On Air/Stitches Pattern Bundle banner ad