---

White Bean Soup with Mushrooms and Sage

---

Recipe Inspiration – She Wears Many Hats (blog)

A big and hearty winter soup to warm up your spirits through the winter.  My favorite elements of this soup are the roasted mushrooms, wow!  Combined with the onions and herbs, the roasted ingredients fill the house with a wonderful aroma.  We even sampled the mushrooms this time before adding to the soup and they are a great snack.  The addition of the blended beans and onion component build up a thick richness in this soup giving it an almost creamy effect.

Winter 2014 in Chicago, aka Chiberia is shaping up to quite the monster. As an old man in the elevator said, “Ahh boy, this is winter on steroids this year.”  Today I am making this soup and looking out over the ice flows and glaciers of Lake Michigan, whoa.

---

White Bean Soup with Mushrooms and Sage Recipe

---

Ingredients

• 2 – Onions
• 16 – Ounces of Mushrooms (shitake are nice)
• 6 – Garlic Cloves
• 5 – Sprigs of Thyme
• 4 – Stems of Sage (10 leaves)
• 2 – Tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 6 – Cups of Cooked White Beans in Cooking Liquid (or 3 – 15 ounce cans)
• 1 1/2 – Teaspoon Salt
• 1 ½ – Teaspoon of Pepper

---

1. Pre-heat oven on to 450 degrees.  Chop the shitake mushrooms into bite sized pieces, quartered works well.  Other types of mushrooms are also good, but the shitake’s add another level of richness.  Arrange in a single layer on one half of a foil lined sheet pan.

2. Roughly chop the onions and arrange in a single layer on the other half of the foil lined sheet pan.  Toss the whole garlic cloves in with the onions, no need to chop or mince because they will be blended.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the ingredients. Dust with salt and pepper, sage and thyme stems.  Toss lightly, but try to keep the onions separate from the mushrooms.

---

3. Roast the mushrooms and garlic for 5 minutes, stir gently and return to oven.  Roast for another 5 to 10 minutes until the onions wilt and become slightly carmelized on the edges (ya know, kinda burned in a good way).  Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.  Pop a few of those mushrooms, they are a treat!

---

4. While the mushrooms and onions are roasting, combine the stock, white beans, thyme leaves, sage leaves, salt and pepper in a medium sized stock pot.  Simmer on low.

5. With a ladle, transfer two cups of beans and stock to a blender.  Add the roasted onions to the blender.  Blend until smooth.  This mixture will act as the thickening component in the soup making it awesome.

---

6. Add the blended mixture and mushrooms back to the stock pot.  Simmer on low until ready to eat.

---

Let’s Eat!