Sausage and White Bean Soup
2002-06-20 @ 9:08 a.m.
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Jake and I had a very nice evening yesterday. Dinner was Sausage and White Bean Soup. It was a treat to get to make this because I was able to use ingredients I don't usually use much. Badsnake doesn't like carrots cooked into anything, and Sara doesn't much like starchy beans.
First chop an onion, a celery stalk and a carrot (small pieces on the carrot). Saut� these in olive oil with some minced garlic in a Dutch oven or a large pot. When the vegies are starting to cook add two 15 oz cans of white beans, one can diced tomatoes (I used some home canned tomatoes that Jake's mother gave us), one or two cups chicken broth, some oregano and salt and pepper. Since this will be simmered for a while, dried oregano will be fine. I have gotten to where I don't like to use dried herbs in anything quick-cooked because they don't get soft enough. Heat this mixture on medium or medium-high until hot. Then remove about two cups of the mixture and pur�e.
I got myself a new toy yesterday at Cook's Warehouse, a hand-blender, specifically because I had this soup in mind. When you pur�e some of the beans it helps thicken the soup base a little. With the other ingredients in the pur�e, you get a more flavorful soup base. You can do this in a blender or food processor, too. (Anat says a hand-blender is also good for making pina coladas.)
Add the pur�e back to the soup, and add about 1/2 pound of chopped sausage. I used kielbasa-style turkey sausage. It's already cooked, so you only have to have it in the soup long enough to heat it. If you are using uncooked sausage you will want to brown it in the pot first thing, and then remove it and set aside to start the vegies. After adding the sausage you can reduce the heat to simmer and let it sit on the stove until you are ready to eat. Just before we ate I cooked some pasta to put in the bowl and serve the soup over.
Note: I probably would have added some red pepper flakes to the soup except for a recent mishap with red pepper flakes on the fingers and an itchy eye (sorry to make you relive that, honey). But the soup was quite flavorful without the pepper.
Jake had cider with dinner and I had a glass of ros�. She gave me first choice of the two. We had bottles of both already open, and either one was appropriate with dinner.
After dinner we spent a very sweet evening together. She was exhausted after a long day, and I just had a self-pampering day off. So I pampered her the best I could. We had a beautifully intimate time together. Since Badsnake is out of town, she spent the night with me. It is very special to get an opportunity to sleep with a lover that you don't usually get to sleep with. Curling up next to her to fall asleep was a wonderful end to a very good day. (Thanks, honey.)
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