Soup #46 / White Bean and Mushroom Soup

Soup, soup, and more soup. At least the weather has been forgiving and making it bearable to be turning on the oven and stove to make some yummy dinner treats, but not so cold that we can't turn on the BBQ and grill up something good too. I wish there was a sweet or savory story that went behind this soup, but I was heading to the market and before I pulled out of the driveway I scanned over my "recipes to try" board on Pinterest and found this recipe, that I decided to follow to make our dinner.  It was a little different since it involved roasting the veggies, and the blender, and the pot, but it was fairly simple and quite tasty. 

What you will need: 

8 oz of baby bella mushrooms, halved or quartered (your preference)

1 large sweet onion, quartered

3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

2 tbs oil - olive or grapeseed

2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried sage

32 oz of chicken or vegetable stock

2 - 15 oz cans of white beans, not drained (I used cannelini)

salt and pepper

How to make it: 

First off, preheat your oven to 450 deg F. In a mixing bowl, add your onions, mushrooms, garlic, and oil. Toss in the sage and 1 tsp of thyme (save the other tsp for later), and a dash of salt and pepper. Use your hands or a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients thoroughly, until the veggies are well coated.  

Spread the veggies out on a cooking sheet, separating the mushrooms on one side, and the onions and garlic on the other. Roast for 10 minutes, stir them around, and then cook for another 15 minutes. When they are done, take them out of the oven and allow them to cool.

In the mean time, in a large pot on medium heat, add your beans (with liquid) and stock, salt and pepper to taste, and the other 1 tsp of thyme. Bring the pot to a simmer. Now remove 2 cups of beans with a slotted spoon, and about 1 cup of the liquid and place them both in the blender along with the onions and garlic (save the mushrooms on the side, do not blend). When this mixture is smooth and pureed, add it back to the stock and beans in the pot. Stir until it is well blended. Then add in the mushrooms and return the pot to medium low heat to warm until serving temperature. Serve as a side or a main course - goes great with garlic bread for dipping!

The verdict: Success. It was a different flavor - I don't normally cook with a lot of thyme, so that was very bold in this soup, and took a few bites to get used to, but overall it was pretty tasty and light. 

What we'd do differently: I think I would skip adding the thyme into the broth next time, since there's already a lot on the veggies. Also, I specifically used a sweet onion for this recipe, but I feel like it could use the sharpness of a regular brown onion, so I would try that too. 

Enjoy!

XO