white-bean-soup-with-pasta

Winter Best Food

White Bean Soup with Pasta

We use mirepoix—a combination of onion, celery and carrots—to flavor this white bean soup. Keep a store-bought bag of the mixture in your freezer to ensure you always have some on hand without worrying about it going bad.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 ½ cups frozen mirepoix (diced onion, celery and carrot)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 28-ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups low-sodium no-chicken broth or chicken broth
  • 1 15-ounce can low-sodium cannellini beans, rinsed
  • 8 ounces small whole-wheat pasta, such as elbows
  • 1 ½ cups frozen cut-leaf spinach
  • 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

  1. Put a large saucepan of water on to boil.

  2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add mirepoix and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, crushed red pepper and ground pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and their juices, broth and beans and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a lively simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to break down, about 10 minutes.

  3. Meanwhile, cook pasta in the boiling water for 1 minute less than the package directions. Drain.

  4. Stir spinach into the soup. Stir in the pasta just before serving. Serve topped with Parmesan.