Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup

Giada DeLaurentis is one of my favorite chefs and last night Eddie helped me make one of my favorite soup recipes from her new book, Giada's Kitchen. The soup has a comforting, velvety texture that's hearty yet not heavy. The sage and garlic really give off amazing, scrumptious flavor. Usually we puree only half of the soup so that there's some whole beans and garlic pieces mixed in, but last night we pureed it all and that was great too.  Also we serve crusty French wheat bread (instead of Ciabatta) on the side, but of course I had to skip that last night but I highly recommend you partake. Dipping the crusty bread into this soup is oh so yummy!  This soup is quick and easy to make and doesn't require a lot of expensive ingredients.  Good on the budget and the tummy!   

Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

2 sage leaves, stems removed

2 (15 oz.) cans cannellini beans, rinse and drained

4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 slices of ciabatta bread

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Place a medium, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil, and shallots. Cook, stirring occasional, until the shallots are softened. about 3 minutes. Add the sage leaves, cannellini beans, and garlic and stir to combine. Add the chicken broth to the pan. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook gently until the garlic is softened, about 15 minutes. Pour half of the soup into a large bowl. Carefully ladle a third to half of the soup from the bowl into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth (be careful to hold the top on the blender tightly, as hot liquids expand when they are blended). Pour the blended soup back into the pot and repeat with the remaining soup from the bowl. Once all the soup is returned to the soup pot, stir in the cream, salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm over very low heat.

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle the slices of ciabatta bread with the extra-virgin olive oil. Grill the bread until is is warm and golden grill marks appear, about 3 minutes per side. Serve the soup in bowls with the grilled break alongside.

Food Network also has a nice video of this recipe too. Click HERE to watch Giada make it.

*Photo and recipe courtesy of DeLaurentis, G. (2008) Giada's Kitchen. New York, New York.