White beans are one of the most versatile canned ingredients in the kitchen. Easily dressed up and perfect for a fast pantry dinner and it only cost around $10 for the whole meal.

This recipe calls for a few odds and ends that you may not have in your kitchen, leave them out! It’ll be better with them, but still a decent dinner without them.

Ingredients

• 1/2 White Onion, chopped
• 1 14oz Can Spinach, drained and chopped roughly
• 2 14oz Cans White Beans (Cannellini)
• 1 14oz Can Petite Tomatoes, strained, liquid reserved
• 2 C dry Ditalini pasta
• 4 C Chicken Broth
• 1T Parsley
• 1T Italian Seasoning
• 1t Rosemary
• Salt & Pepper

Fancy Additions

• Sun-dried Tomatoes in Oil
• Carrots and Celery for a real mirepoix
• Fresh instead of dried herbs
• 1T Red Wine Vinegar
• 1C White Wine (Chardonnay)
• 5 Bacon Strips, cut into postage stamp sized pieces
• Chicken Thighs or leftover rotisserie Chicken
• Parmesan Cheese, grated

Steps

1. In a large bowl combine chicken broth, ditalini, and dried herbs. Set aside for 30m.
2. In a large heavy-bottomed dutch oven over medium heat, fry bacon strips. Stir infrequently, until brown on one side. (Note: A tablespoon of water can be added to help the bacon render evenly without burning. )
3. Add white onion (celery and carrot) and cook until translucent.
4. If using wine, add and reduce.
5. Add in sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, tomatoes, and beans. Cook until bubbling consistently.
6. Ladle ditalini into the pot and stir to incorporate. Set aside the broth.
7. As soup thickens, begin adding chicken broth until appropriately soup-y.
8. Taste for salt and acid. At this point, introduce reserved tomato juice and/or red wine vinegar as necessary.
9. Cook over a medium heat until tomatoes and beans are softened and ditalini is swollen and soft.
10. Serve with crusty bread or biscuits and topped with grated parmesan.
11. Enjoy!