Good friend; good soup

We received a wonderful Christmas gift from our friend Noelle. A lovely white oven safe bowl and a cookbook called Soup Bowl.

We recently tried the Tuscan Bean Soup from the book. It was delicious--warm and filling. Perfect for a cold January night. As a bonus, it was fast and used ingredients that we usually have in the pantry (so to speak, in our tiny kitchen, it's just a cabinet).

The recipe says that it serves 6 but those must be small-maybe first course-portions. It fed us both well with a little left over.

Tuscan Bean Soup from Soup Bowl

10.5 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

10.5 oz can cranberry beans, drained and rinsed (We couldn't find cranberry so we used red beans)

2 1/2 cups chicken stock (I doubled this)

4 oz. small pasta

4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 Tbs chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Combine half the cannellini and cranberry beans with half the chicken stock and puree. Pour into a large pot and add the rest of the beans. Add stock to reach your desired consistency. Bring to a bowl. Add the pasta and return to a boil. Cook until the pasta in tender.

Meanwhile saute the garlic in the evoo until golden. Add to the soup. (Note: for time, I sauteed the garlic in the same pot as the soup and then added the bean/stock puree and continued with the recipe).

Add the parsley and season to taste.