Navy Bean And Sausage Soup

Servings: 5
Ingredients:

1/2 lb Dried navy beans
4 tb Olive oil
1    Onion, chopped
2    Garlic cloves, chopped
3    Ribs celery, diced
1    Turnip, diced
1 sm Imported bay leaf and 5
-sprigs fresh
Parsley, tied together with
-kitchen twine
1/4 ts Ground allspice
1/4 ts Crushed red pepper flakes
6 c  Chicken broth
4    Fresh sausages (mild
-Italian)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Soak the navy beans overnight in plenty of cold water; the next day drain
the beans and rinse them under cool water. Set aside. Place the oil and
onion in a soup kettle, set over low heat and cook slowly until the onion
has softened, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium, add the garlic
and celery and stir-cook for 1 minute. Drop in the bay leaf and parsley
bundle. Stir in the allspice, red pepper flakes, broth, and navy beans.
Bring the soup base to a boil, skimming it as necessary; boil 3 minutes.
Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until the beans are quite tender.
Discard the parsley-bay leaf bundle. (The soup may be prepared in advance
to this point.)

To finish the soup, grill the sausages under the broiler or pan-fry them
for about 20 minutes, letting them cook for 10 minutes on each side. Slice
the sausage into 1/3-inch disks. Add the sausage rounds to the soup and
let simmer for 5 minutes longer to blend the flavors. Season with salt and
freshly-ground pepper to taste. Ladle the soup into warm bowls and serve
piping hot.

Makes 5 servings.

[WASHINGTON POST JAN 11, 1989] Posted by Fred Peters.