A tried and true family recipe for white bean soup. I add beef kielbasa sausage, grilled and chopped for a heartier meal. A touch of fresh pesto tops it all before serving.
Soak the beans overnight in water covering the beans by 1 inch.
Drain the water from the beans, rinse and add chicken stock to beans in slow cooker.
Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery and garlic.
Cook for 6 hours in slow cooker or until beans are soft, but not mushy (See Note 1).
Grill kielbasa, when cool enough to handle, slice into 1/2 inch pieces and add to slow cooker in last hour of cooking (See Note 2).
Season to taste. Add tablespoon of fresh pesto on top of each bowl of soup before serving.
Notes
1. At this stage it can be seasoned to reflect whatever type of soup you want, be it French with thyme and tarragon, Mexican with cumin, Italian with Italian herbs, etc. 2. You can slice the kielbasa and pan fry to sear and caramelize edges if a grill is not an option.