Hearty White Bean Winter/Fall Soup

Cooking time about 2 ½ hours
6-8 servings
One package of dried white cannelloni (white) beans Or Great Northern beans
6 ounces of prosciutto optional
One bunch of kale; washed take out the white rib and chop up.
1 c chopped carrot
1 c chopped celery
One large onion chopped
3-4 garlic minced/chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary chopped
About 6 cups homemade or store bought chicken stock
2-4 roma tomatoes, rinsed, seeded, and chopped
1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
Two bay leaves
One handful of fresh basil; chopped
Salt/pepper
One cup of white wine

Cook the beans according to the directions. To make the soup easier; I always soak my beans the night before after they were cleaned and soak them in a pot on the stove covered w/ water. The next day I rinse the beans put them back into the pot and cover w/ water and add kosher salt and they cook up so nicely and much faster this way. It is easier for me to do it like this.

In another large soup pot put in the olive oil into a hot pot medium high heat and add the onions and garlic to sauté. Once they have sautéed; add the prosciutto if you are going to use that and add the red pepper flakes, rosemary, about 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Taste and see how you like it as you continue to cook the soup. Once that has sautéed; add the carrots celery and tomatoes and then add wine and reduce down by half. Then add one cup of chicken stock and bay leaf; cover with the lid for 20 minutes. Now add the chopped kale into the soup.  In a food processor or blender ladle 4 spoons of beans w/ 1 cup of chicken stock and puree, add to the soup that you are cooking; stir it up evenly. Start ladling the rest of the beans into the soup pot with a slated spoon to drain off the water. Stir in the one cup of chicken soup after about 4 ladles of beans; do this until all the beans are in the soup pot.  Only add as much chicken stock as you want to add as soup as you want the soup. Once it is all mixed; let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes and add the basil at this time.  This soup freezes well up to 6 months.
Serve the soup with crusty bread on the grill on in the broiler.