This Vegetable Bean Soup is the Perfect Cozy Cure For the Winter Blues

This morning, when Ron Rhodes called to talk weather, I said, "Happy Wednesday, Ron!" He replied, "Ummm, is it?" It was raining, dark, windy, and the forecast isn't looking good for the rest of the week. It's hard to get going when it's cold and gloomy like this, but I have just the thing that will warm you up.

My friend Merritt from The Kitchen Transition shared a delicious and comforting recipe for Vegetable Bean Soup as our What's Cookin'? recipe for the week. I call her the Queen of Drizzles and Dressings, but she can also make a pretty mean soup, too! It hits just the right spot and is very filling. It could be meal-prepped for on-the-go or shared with the fam on a wintry night.

How to Make Vegetable Bean Soup:

The great thing about this dish is that it can be personalized to your liking or tweaked with ingredients you may already have stocked. I LOVED the little bit of heat from the red pepper flakes, but you can totally leave them out. You could substitute the bacon for pancetta or ham, or an Italian sausage, even.

 Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup celery, sliced
• 1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 - 32-ounce carton of vegetable broth
• 1 - 15-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 - 15-ounce can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 cup ditalini pasta
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

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Directions

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add bacon and sauté for 6 minutes or until crisp. Pour off bacon fat.

Add olive oil and onion. Sauté for 2 minutes or until softened. Add celery and carrots. Sauté for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Sauté for .1 minutes. Add vegetable broth and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer.

Add beans, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and ditalini. Stir soup and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Spoon into bowls. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and parsley before serving.