WHITE BEAN, LEEK AND FENNEL SOUP

This soup is perfect for those evenings when you are low on time but wanting some warming and comforting food. 

Having a tin of cannellini beans or chickpeas in your pantry combined with some good seasonal ingredients, will inspire you to create a quick nourishing meal in minutes.

Preparation time - 10 minutes

Cooking time - 20 minutes

Skill - easy

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil

½ leek, sliced thinly

1 bulb fennel, sliced thinly

1 clove garlic, slice thinly

1 sprig of thyme or rosemary, roughly chopped

1 x 425g tin of cannellini beans

½ tsp nutritional yeast or pinch of vegetable stock

Salt and cracked pepper to taste

Extra virgin olive oil to finish

Freshly grated parmesan to finish

Method

Add the oil to a medium sized saucepan.

Over moderate heat add the sliced leeks, fennel, garlic and herbs, cover with a lid.  Cook for about 5 minutes without colouring.  This is too extract natural flavours from the ingredients.

Add the tin of beans and the liquid, stir to combine.  Fill the tin with water and pour that into the soup, add the nutritional yeast or stock and cook for 10 minutes.

I like to blend the soup a little to thicken the consistency.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and grate over the parmesan cheese (as much or as little as you like).

Enjoy.