Tuscan White Bean Soup On A Rainy Day

Tuscan White Bean Soup & Easy Croutons

Today has been a very rainy day in our neck of the woods. It was overcast when I left home this morning, but I didn’t think it was going to rain right away. I had only gone a couple of miles down the road when it started pouring! I was somewhat unprepared when we got to CJ’s school. I had my umbrella, but we had left CJ’s beloved Batman umbrella at home. He was born in the west and has never owned a umbrella before, so every chance he gets to use it is a special treat for him. I scrounged around my car and found a hoody for him to wear and I toughed it out in my flip flops. Can you tell we’re not used to rain? After taking him into school and then coming back out, and then going into Starbucks and coming out (and so on), I lost track of how many times my feet got soaking wet (sigh).

All of this wet weather has me craving a big bowl of soup and a lazy day watching movies. Here is one of my favorite quick soup recipes, and may I recommend “Moonstruck” to get in the Italian mood?

 

Tuscan White Bean Soup

2 16oz cans white cannellini beans, drained

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup marinara sauce (I use Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil Marinara)

3-4 medium garlic cloves, minced (I like mine garlicky)

1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled

1 tsp dried basil leaves

Puree cannellini beans, chicken broth, marinara sauce and spices in a blender until smooth. Move to a large pot and simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes.  Top with croutons. Makes 4 medium bowls of soup.

 

Easy Croutons

Easy Croutons

3-4 cups bread cubes cut from a French or Italian bakery loaf of bread

4 TBS olive oil

1/4 – 1/2 tsp garlic powder (don’t use fresh garlic, it makes the croutons mushy)

salt to taste

 Heat a big pan over low heat. Toss bread in a bowl with olive oil, garlic powder and salt. Increase heat to medium and allow pan to heat up. Add croutons to the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 7 minutes or until crisp.