Ingredients
1 onion chopped
1 carrot thinly sliced (use a mandoline)
1 small clove of garlic chopped (optional)
1 stalk of celery thinly chopped
1 large yukon gold potato cubed
2 cups of chicken stock
1 cup of cooked canellini beans, or navy white beans (see recipe in archive below or use 1 can of store bought beans)
1/2 a teaspoon of thyme (optional)
A few leafs of fresh basil (optional)
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of of medium sized pasta ( macaroni or rotelli)
1 medium bunch of chopped escarole (or any leafy greens)
Olive oil
Cook the onions, celery, garlic, and potato in olive oil until slightly golden brown. Add the 2 cups of chicken broth, salt and pepper bring to a boil and then lower to medium. Cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked and very soft, try breaking them up a bit with a fork at this point (potatoes give this soup it's nice creaminess). Or use a hand held blender until you get a creamy consistency. Add 1 cup of water or less until desired consistency, bring back to a boil add the thinly sliced carrots and the pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until pasta is almost al dente. Add the thyme, the cooked beans and the chopped escarole. Cook until the greens are wilted but still bright green. (You can add sliced and cooked Italian sausage to the soup if you don't want to make it vegetarian.) Season with salt and pepper to taste.
