Description
A hearty and flavorful soup made with white beans, Italian sausage, and fresh vegetables.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups dried white beans (see notes)
- 6 cups chicken broth, plus added water as needed
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. dried marjoram (or use oregano if you don’t have marjoram)
- 1 tsp. ground fennel
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 19 oz. pkg. Italian Sausage (see notes)
- 2 cups diced zucchini
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tsp. hot pepper flakes, or less if you don’t like spicy foods
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (or less, depending on what you have)
Instructions
- Soak dried beans overnight, or all day while you’re at work.
- Drain soaked beans, rinse, and remove any loose skins or broken pieces.
- Place beans in soup pot with chicken stock, chopped onion, dried basil, dried marjoram or oregano, ground fennel, and minced garlic and cook at a low simmer about one hour, or until beans are starting to get tender. (The cooking time of dried beans depends greatly on how old they are, even when the beans have been soaked, so check by tasting.)
- While beans cook, preheat oven or toaster oven to 400F/200C and roast turkey sausage about 25-35 minutes, or until well browned and firm, or heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and brown sausage well on all sides.
- Remove sausages from roasting pan or frying pan, then deglaze pan with 1/2 cup water, scraping off the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and add to soup.
- Cut sausage in half lengthwise, and then into slices and add to soup.
- Continue to simmer on low, adding a little water if the soup is starting to get too thick.
- Wash zucchini, trim both ends, cut in half lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch slices.
- When beans are softened and close to being done, add chopped zucchini, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes and simmer 30-45 minutes more.
- When beans are fully softened and cooked, add chopped fresh basil or frozen basil and cook 5 minutes more.
- Serve the White Bean Sausage Soup hot. This will keep for several days in the refrigerator and also freezes well.
Notes
- For best results, soak beans overnight.
- Italian sausage can be substituted with turkey sausage or omitted for a vegetarian option.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 800mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Fiber: 10g
- Protein: 20g
- Cholesterol: 55mg