cannellini bean soup with roasted tomatoes

This pretty soup is an excellent example of two things that I think are really important in the kitchen. A good store cupboard and as many fresh herbs as you can lay your hands on. I have been going through one of my 'not so inspired' phases in my kitchen so I went back to basics, which for me is a read through my beloved River Cafe cookery book, the blue one. It's almost as good as taking a holiday in Italy.

This soup is roughly adapted from them and the mixture of the sweet tomato mix with the creamy bland cannellini beans is divine.

Cannellini bean soup with roasted tomatoes

One can of cannellini beans or you can soak and boil your own. You need a drained weight of 235g of beans

A bunch of parsley, finely chopped

Three garlic cloves, finely chopped

Water

Olive oil

Seasoning

Roasted tomatoes, peel and de-seed about six salad tomatoes or three large plum tomatoes or maybe 10 cherry tomatoes and chop

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

Three sprigs of rosemary with the needles finely chopped

Fry the garlic cloves in the olive oil and when they are browning nicely, chuck in the parsley and then stir in the beans. Stir and separate into one half into the blender and the other into a saucepan. Add some water to the blender but not too much as you want the soup to be quite thick. Blend until it is a rough puree and then stir that back into the whole bean mix. Taste for seasoning and drizzle in some olive oil.

The tomatoes are easy - heat the olive oil, add the tomatoes, then the garlic and rosemary. Cook for five minutes and then stir this mixture into the cannellini bean soup. Heat gently.