Easy To Do Hearty Bean, Sausage & Mushroom Soup

Easy To Do Hearty Bean, Smoked Sausage & Mushroom Soup

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour or simmer longer
Serves 8

Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cremini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 can (28oz/794g diced tomatoes and their juice (I love Muir Glen fire roasted)
2 smoked sausages (chorizo or I just tried Butterball Chipotle turkey sausages), diced
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
½ oz/14g dried porcini mushrooms (no need to reconstitute, the soup will do it)
2-3 sprigs thyme ( or 1 tsp dried thyme leaves)
2” piece of hard cheese rind (Parmesan or, like today, the last of my favorite – Manchego)
2 cups cooked Jacob Cattle beans (kidney beans, chickpeas, navy beans…whatever you like/have on hand)***
Optional: some additional heat to the soup – some red chili pepper flakes or Worcestershire or other hot sauce; chopped fresh cilantro just before serving.

***Check this recipe for a good way to prepare dried beans. Or just use your favorite canned option, but drain and rinse them before adding to the soup.

Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven. Add the carrots, onion, cremini mushrooms (don’t add the dried porcini until you’ve added the liquid). Sautee until the carrots are soft (5 minutes or so). Add the tomatoes, sausages, and stir. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Hold off on extra heat until you know you’ll need it! Thirty minutes should be enough time to let you know.

2. Simmer for 1 hour or until the bean are soft but still holding their shape. Nothing worse than mushy beans unless you’re going to puree them anyway. Remove and discard the thyme stems and cheese rind, scraping any cheese back into the pot.

To serve, you can also add some baby spinach or arugula leaves. The heat of the soup will wilt them.