Bean and Farro Soup (p. 136)

I've been eyeing this recipe for a few weeks because I had pretty much all the ingredients for it at home -- all I need to purchase was a tomato.

Since I don't work until noon on Mondays, I whipped this up this morning to be able to take for dinner tonight.

In a stockpot, cover your pre-soaked and drained beans (I used navy, but any light-colored bean would do) in an inch of water and add in chopped onion, celery, and garlic as well as a bay leaf, a few fennel seeds, and black pepper. Let this simmer until the beans are tender, about 40 minutes.

Separately, put pre-soaked and drained farro in a pot with boiling water and cook until not-quite-tender.

Remove most of the beans to a food processor and puree them, then pour them back in with the whole beans remaining in the pot.

Add in chopped tomato and cook until the tomatoes have basically melted into the soup, then pour in the drained cooked farro.

Add salt and pepper and serve with bread and a little bit of parmesan on the side.

This was good, but definitely not my favorite of the soups I've been making lately. I think this would have better flavor in the summertime, when the tomatoes are at their peak.

tomato -- $1.64

Total Cost of Bean and Farro Soup: $1.64

($.55 per serving)