Hearty Soup

This is a recipe I've been meaning to get around to for years! It is a white bean and sausage soup. The seasonings are very different than the usual ones I use like thyme and bay...this is seasoned with clove and allspice! You can imagine how wonderful it smelled, simmering on the stove. It was delicious too! The spices I generally associate with sweet things mellowed during simmering into such a great, savory taste.

Thank goodness there are leftovers! I topped it with a generous spoonful of parmesan and I baked one of my '5 minute' loaves to go with it.

I was happy with myself for using dried beans. It's something I want to get in the habit of doing instead of canned ones. A lot of recipes call for the canned ones, but of course you can substitute dried ones. The cans are so bulky and heavy to haul home from the store and the tins then need to be cleaned and recycled. Plus, they have added sodium. I think I would rather deal with the dry beans most of the time, I just need to train myself to remember to soak and cook them in advance.