Someone's sick and it's not me....

Big Daddy has the Monday Flu, and  decided to stay home today. Why does this bother me?..
Probably because I have a routine, and when someone observes your routine, makes comments, and gives advice on how to streamline said routine...anger erupts. This is my turf and someone is camping on my couch watching movies (Transformers...in surround sound)...coughing. The dogs are barking because of the coughing. He's answering the phone and finding out about things like new drapes, and nail appointments...it's ugly.
I guess the bottom line is...I wasn't including him in my empty nest. Shame on me!
I decided to redeem myself and try a new soup recipe.
First I did a little grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, then I brought him a Jamba Juice chock full of immunity boosters...he asked if it had ice cream in it...I pretended not to hear...

Anyway, the soup is from the latest Williams-Sonoma catalog.. I changed it a little.

WHITE BEAN SOUP

1/4c olive oil

1/4c chopped pancetta (I bought the pre-chopped, neatly packaged option)

1/2 yellow onion chopped

1 each carrot and celery stalk, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 cans (15oz) cannellini beans, drained...I used 1 can of red kidney beans, and 1 can of pinto beans, and 1 can of cannellini...so my soup cannot accurately be called "white bean"

5c chicken broth

3/4tsp chopped fresh thyme, and I added a little parsley also

1/2c grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 

kosher salt and black pepper

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, warm 2T of oil and cook pancetta for 5minutes.

 Add onion, carrot, and celery and cook another 5 minutes. Add garlic, cook one minute more.

Add the beans, broth, and thyme

Simmer over low heat until smooth.

Williams Sonoma asks you to remove the soup from the heat and use an immersion blender to smooth the soup. I do not have an immersion blender, so I simply used my hand mixer (this was slightly messy and therefore no picture was taken). I believe the result was adequate  : )

Stir in the cheese, salt and pepper

I added a little more cheese... because I love cheese...

Remove that Rosemary sprig before eating!

I thought you must love beans to enjoy this soup. Beans aren't at the very top of my wish-list, but I really loved this soup. It cooks fast, tastes great, and was super easy. Enjoy!

...he's still nursing that Jamba Juice ...even without the ice cream.