Ingredients
1 1/2 cups dried navy beans, washed
9 cups water
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 lb. italian sausage
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
3 medium zucchini, chopped
4 tbls dried basil
1/2 tsp ground sage
1 bunch parsley, minced
2 16 oz. cans tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked al dente
Preparation
In a large heavy kettle, place the beans, water, and carrots. Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer the beans for 2 to 3 hours
In a large skillet, place the sausage and fry it on medium heat until it is well cooked. Remove the sausage and set it aside. Leave the drippings in the skillet.
In the same skillet (with the drippings) add the garlic, onions, celery, zucchini, basil, sage, and parsley. Sauté the vegetables on medium high heat until the onions are transparent.
Add the sautéed vegetables, chopped tomatoes, salt, and pepper to the soup.
Chop the sausage and add it to the soup.
Simmer the soup for 1 more hour.
Add the elbow macaroni and stir it in.
Snaketruck’s additional notes: I use only 1 1/2 tsp black pepper, but I only use fresh ground pepper, which maybe is a little stronger than already-ground I fry the sausage, remove it, fry the veggies and then chop the sausage into little bite-size pieces and give it one more fry after the veggies go from the frying pan into the soup. I’m slow chopping veggies (I just like my veggies to be perfectly bite-sized), so I start washing veggies & chopping when the carrots and beans have been on for 90 minutes. By the time I’m done frying everything, the soup carrot-bean mix has been simmering for about 2.5 hrs. Once the sausage & veggies are in the soup, I let it simmer for a half hour, then get the elbow mac’ cooking. Elbow mac is in the soup about 15 minutes later, and then I just let the soup go about 15-20 minutes more.
Navy beans are not great northern beans! I’ve made this mistake a couple of times.
Serves 8 according the recipe, but I’d say more like 10-12.
