Bean Pasta Soup

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 2 -4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups onions, diced
• 4 garlic cloves (minced or pressed)
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1 cup carrot, diced
• 1 tablespoon italian seasoning
• 4 cups broth (chicken, veg, or beef stock all work well) or 4 cups water (chicken, veg, or beef stock all work well)
• 2 cups whole grain pasta (spirals, elbows, ribbons...)
• 4 cups beans, cooked. (2 16oz cans or 2 cups dried beans soaked or cooked)
• 2 (14 ounce) cans tomato sauce (or one can sauce and one can diced tomato)
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
• black pepper
• 4 cups spinach (chopped or shredded. can use 2 boxes frozen spinach.) or 4 cups kale (chopped or shredded. can use 2 boxes frozen spinach.)
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Recipe

• 1 heat olive oil,.
• 2 add onion and garlic, saute until translucent.
• 3 add celery, carrot, italian seasoning, saute 5 min on medium-high heat, until vegetables are just starting to brown.
• 4 add broth, cover and bring to boil.
• 5 add pasta, stir, cover and simmer until pasta is 1/2 done, stirring frequently.
• 6 add beans, tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, cover and bring back up to simmer, cook ~5 min or until beans are hot and pasta is almost done.
• 7 add greens. if using spinach, stir it in and turn off heat, let sit for a minute or two until spinach is wilted. if using kale, add to pot, and continue simmering for ~ 5 minutes or until kale is tender, but still bright green.
• 8 serve with a sprinkle of parmesan.