Minestrone with fennel and wild garlic

Ingredients

• ¼ cup red beans, dried or canned
• ¼ cup chickpeas, dried or canned
• ¼ cup dried fava beans, dried or canned and peeled
• ¼ cup lentils
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into one-inch cubes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bunch beet or Swiss chard leaves, chopped
• 2 fennel bulbs and stalks, washed and chopped
• 1 fresh tomato, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 cups pumpkin or other squash, cubed
• 4 to 5 stalks wild garlic or garlic chives, minced
• ¼ cup fregola or orzo pasta
   

Preparation

If using dried beans:

1. Soak beans for at least six hours, or overnight. Drain and rinse.
2. Peel the fava beans by squeezing each one between your thumb and other fingers. The skin should slip off easily.
3. Add beans to a soup pot and fill it with enough water to cover them. Simmer for 45 minutes to one hour, adding lentils after 30 minutes.
4. Drain beans and lentils.

If using canned beans:

1. Rinse beans and lentils in water. Place them in a pot, cover with water and simmer for 30 minutes, then drain.

For the minestrone:

1. In a large soup pot, combine beans with all vegetables in water and bring them to a boil.
2. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Add pasta and simmer for another 15 minutes.
4. Serve with crusty bread drizzled with olive oil.
    

Yield: Eight servings