Shell Bean & Vegetable Soup

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt
• 3 cups liquid (bean broth, water, or chicken stock, or any combination of the three)
• 2 small summer squash, diced
• 8 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 bunch chard leaves, coarsely chopped
• 3 cups cooked cannellini, cranberry, or other beans
• 1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• Garlic croutons (see page 37; optional)
• Parmesan cheese

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat and add the onion, carrot, and celery.
2. Cook the vegetables gently for 5 to 10 minutes until soft and translucent.
3. Add the garlic and herbs, season with salt, and cook another few minutes.
4. Add the liquid and bring to a simmer.
5. Add the squash, green beans, and chard (or other vegetables in season, such as leeks, fennel, winter squash, kale, cabbage, and potatoes).
6. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Add the cooked shell beans and the tomato and cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Taste and add salt and more liquid, if needed.
9. Serve the soup with a drizzle of olive oil and, if you like, a plate of crusty garlic croutons to dip into the broth.
10. Pass Parmesan at the table.
11. A classic minestrone includes pasta in the soup (add 1 to 2 cups cooked pasta, such as orzo or orecchiette, to the soup at the end) and is garnished at the table with a generous spoonful of pesto (page 21) added to each bowl.
12. The pesto gives a pungent garlicky kick to the soup, in which case you wont need the olive oil and cheese of the original recipe as a garnish.
13. For a winter version of the soup, substitute cubes of winter squash (butternut, Hubbard, pumpkin) for the summer squash and green beans, and use kale in place of the chard.
14. Use canned or preserved tomatoes in place of the fresh tomatoes, or leave them out.

olive oil, onion, carrot, celery stalk, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, salt, liquid, summer, green beans, chard, cranberry, tomato, garlic, parmesan cheese

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/shell-bean-vegetable-soup-387369 (may not work)