Navy bean & sausage soup

Yield: 5 Servings

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

Instructions:

-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.