Italian Peasant Soup with Cabbage, Beans and Cheese

This soup is simple and delicious. Instead of one big slice of bread in the middle, I cubed mine into crouton-size pieces.  And I had regular green cabbage on hand, not savoy.  And I used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, again because that's what I had in the pantry.

I bet this would also be very satisfying with some shredded rotisserie chicken added in.

Italian Peasant Soup with Cabbage, Beans and Cheese
Taken directly from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 15-oz. cans cannellinii beans, washed and drained
• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium head of cabbage, shredded
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 clove garlic, halved
• 5 cups vegetable or chicken broth (I used chicken)
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• slices of toasted crusty bread (I used sourdough)
• parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Mash half the beans and set aside.
• In a dutch oven, saute the onions on medium heat in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add the cabbage and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes, stirring often, until the cabbage wilts.  Add in the beans (both mashed and whole) and broth.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially-covered, for about 15 minutes until the cabbage is tender.  Season with TSSS and black pepper.
• Arrange bread in soup bowls.  Ladle the soup over the bread.  Grate some parmesan cheese over the top and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.  Serve immediately.