It was Soupa! (Sorry)

Deborah Madison knows a thing or two about soup. I followed this recipe for "White Bean Soup with Pasta and Rosemary Oil" from her big cookbook. (As opposed to her soup-specific one.) But I should warn you - I chose this one in part because it was one of her less elaborate creations, and it took about 2 1/2 hours.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out that I enjoy meat. Really enjoy it. But sometimes it's nice to show the veggies some love. Or attempt to make your vegetarian friends feel comfortable in your home.

I give this soup a B. If I could do it all over again, I would be more conservative with the beans, and I would take Deborah's advice and blend half of it. And PS: beans are time consuming.

White Bean Soup with Pasta and Rosemary Oil

The Rosemary Oil:

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 TB finely chopped rosemary
2 garlic cloves, sliced

The Soup:

2 cups cannellini or navy beans
2 TB olive oil
1 TB chopped rosemary
1 onion, 2 carrots, 1 celery rib, diced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 cup diced tomatoes, and their juice
salt and peppa
1 cup dried pasta, shells, little elbows, whatever strikes your fancy
thin shavings of fresh Parmesan

Slowly warm the olive oil with the rosemary and garlic until the garlic begins to color, about 3 mins. Turn off heat and set aside.

Cover the beans with boiling water and set aside.

Heat the oil with 1 TB rosemary over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrots, cook until onion softens, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and parsley, cook for a few minutes. Drain the beans, add them with the tomatoes and 3 quarts of water. (That's 12 cups. I learned this on the internet.) Bring to boil, then simmer, covered, until the beans are tender, about an hour and a half. 90 minutes. A long time. At some point, add 2 teaspoons of salt to the mix.

Puree half the soup, if you please. Cook the pasta, strain the rosemary oil. Ladle it up, add some pasta and drizzle with oil and add pepper to taste. Top with Parm. Enjoy.