Tastey Tuesdays ~ Great Northern Beans Garlic Soup

A few months ago I made Thomas Keller's Slow Cooker Cassoulet, I was not a fan. I should say that it might have been ok if I just had a bowl, however the recipe called for 12 cups of beans and there are only two of us so you know what that means, Cassoulet for two weeks straight. yuck. I typically do not use dry beans and I was not sure how many I needed so I got too many and they have been hanging out in the freezer for 6 months now. I figured that it was time to make some more of them. So after I recently made pot pies I I saved the skin and the bones and made chicken stock. With the two combined I decided to adapt the Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup from the zoe blog. She had some great ideas when she adapted it from Giada De Laurentis on the food network she swapped the cream out for a medium potato. Genus! I changed her version in the spirit of kitchen sink cooking. Also I love my vita mix and I wanted to make less of a mess, plus I was feeling a little lazy so I decided to use it in more than one way.

Great Northern Beans Garlic Soup
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 shallots, peeled
4 sage leaves
32 ounces of great northern beans
7 cups of chicken broth
4 cloves of garlic
5 small red potatoes
salt
fresh ground pepper

The night before take beans and 4 cups of chicken stock and cook on high for ten hours until soft.
Place your shallots in your Vitamix or standard blender, add water until they are almost covered. Pulse three several times until minced. Drain, reserving liquid. Add the shallots along with butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook stirring occasionally until soft and translucent. 

Add beans and sage, stir to incorporate.

In the Vitamix, place the remaining 3 cups of chicken stock, the water reserved from the shallots and the garlic. Pulse until minced. Slowly pour in to the pot. Bring to a simmer.

Chop the potatoes in to quarters drizzle with remaining olive oil, bake at 400 degrees for 22 minutes.

Add potatoes and oil to soup. In batches blend soup. Heat, again add salt and pepper to taste. 

To jazz it up a bit I added a piece of sourdough toast smothered in garlic butter. You could also add bits of bacon. 

"I could be a vegan, with a little bacon on top" ~ David Bromstad