Hearty Tuscan White Bean Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
3 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 (15 ounce) cans white beans, any variety
1 (10 ounce) packaged frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3/4 cup macaroni, uncooked
salt and pepper
grated parmesan cheese, and or pecorino romano cheese, to serve

Preparation

Heat the oil in a 4 quart soup pot over medium heat.
Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery and thyme and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
Add the chicken broth, tomatoes and bay leaf.
Drain the beans and roughly mash 1/2 a can of beans. Add the beans and mashed beans to the pot.
Squeeze the water from the thawed spinach and add to the pot.
Season with salt and pepper and simmer for at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes.
Add the macaroni and cook until tender according to package directions. (About 10 minutes.).
Serve sprinkled with grated parmesan and/or pecorino romano.