The soups keep coming for winter. The thing I’m loving most about soup at the moment is that one batch will last a couple of meals for the two of us. Nothing like a night off cooking when you’ve got a newborn…or anytime! This is just like a minestrone but with a couple of extras, the beans and faro. This recipe has evolved from Guy Grossi spelt & bean soup recipe.
I have served it here with some crusty bread…delicious!
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery stick, finely diced
1 capsicum (any colour), diced
1 parmesan rind
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 potato, 1 cm dice
1 can borlotti beans, drained
1 can cannellini beans, drained
500ml chicken stock
100g farro
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
Grana Padana or other parmesan cheese, grated

Method
Heat oil in a large saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 2 minutes then add carrot, celery, capsicum, garlic, potato and parmesan rind. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. While this is cooking down drain and rinse the borlotti and cannellini beans. Divide the beans in two and mash half the beans and set the other half aside.
Add tomatoes, mashed beans and chicken stock and cook for 20 minutes. Then add the whole beans and farro and simmer for a further 20 minutes until the farro is tender. Remove the parmesan rind and stir through the chopped parsley. Serve with grated Grana Padana.