White Bean And Vegetable Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 c. chopped onion
2 c. chopped celery
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried rosemary, crumbled
2 c. sliced carrots
8 small red potatoes, chopped
1 lb. dried white beans (i.e. Great Northern), soaked in enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches overnight and drained
5 c. vegetable or chicken stock
1 c. white wine
1/2 c. chopped parsley
Parmesan, freshly grated

Preparation

In a large pot, heat olive oil over moderately high heat and cook onion, celery, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary, stirring occasionally until onion and celery are translucent.
Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add carrots, red potatoes, beans, stock and 5 cups water; bring soup to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer soup covered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until beans are tender.
Stir in the wine and additional stock or water to achieve desired consistency.
Remove bay leaf.
In a blender, puree 2 cups of the soup until smooth and stir into soup.
Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and stir in parsley.
Serve soup with Parmesan.
Yields 10 to 12 cups.