Tuscan White Bean Soup

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the diced onion, carrot, celery, and red pepper. Sauté on low heat for 6-7 minutes until the vegetables have softened. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 large celery stick, 1 red pepper, 3 garlic cloves
Stir the tomato paste into the vegetables, cooking until it’s darkened in color and turned fragrant (2-3 minutes).
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Add the white wine to deglaze the pan - use your wooden spoon to scrape off any black bits from the bottom of the pan (this adds flavoring to the soup!) and cook off the wine until the liquid has mostly evaporated (1-2 minutes).
60 ml white wine
Pour in the vegetable stock, cannellini beans, rosemary, bay leaves, and season with salt and pepper.
450 ml vegetable stock, 1 sprig rosemary, 2 bay leaves, Salt and pepper to taste, 400 g tinned cannellini beans
Simmer the soup for 10 minutes, then remove the bay leaves and either blend ⅓ of the soup directly in the pot, or remove a portion of the soup to blend until smooth, and then add it back in. This gives the soup a beautiful creamy texture.
Add the chopped kale and stir through the soup until lightly wilted (2-3 minutes).
100 g kale
Serve with a good crack of black pepper, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and the red pepper flakes if using.
optional 0.5tsp red pepper flakes
Enjoy with croutons or a slice of crusty sourdough to dip!