White Bean Soup with Pasta and Vegetables with homemade chicken stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade chicken stock ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Put the chicken, the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises during the first 15 minutes with a spoon.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Turn down and simmer gently 2.5–3 hours.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 3
   Strain the stock.

   Colander

For the Fried onion

1. 4
   Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.

   StoveLarge pot
2. 5
   Add the onion and carrot and fry 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 6
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   Stove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.

To assemble

1. 7
   Add the thyme and stir for a minute, until fragrant.
2. 8
   Add the tomatoes and cook 5 minutes.

   Stove
3. 9
   Add the beans and stock and bring to a boil.

   Stove
4. 10
   Turn down the heat and simmer 15 minutes.

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5. 11
   Add the pasta and cook 10 more minutes, until the pasta is tender.

   Stove

   💡Hard vegetables (carrots, celery, potatoes) cook from the start; zucchini and pasta go in at the end so they don't fall apart.

   💡Small pasta keeps absorbing liquid even after cooking: if you're not serving right away, cook it separately and add it to each bowl.
6. 12
   Season with salt and black pepper, taste and adjust.
7. 13
   Sprinkle the cilantro on top and serve.