No photos so you’ll have to trust me, this was not only a delicious soup, but an attractive one as well. Excellent for this time of year.

This is one of those all day but not time consuming recipes. During the morning, I cooked the dry (unsoaked) cannellinis in the pressure cooker for about 40 minutes and set them aside. While the beans were cooking, I roasted the onions. Later in the afternoon I blended the stock and onions using the immersion blender right in the stock pot (easier cleanup). And there things sat until it was time to put the beans in the pot and finish the soup.

I doubled the recipe in order to freeze about half. I used about 3T of dried basil rather than fresh.

“This soothing, smoky-flavored onion soup is welcome during the winter. Make an extra batch of the base for it using just the first two ingredients. Freeze the base. After defrosting, continue with the remaining ingredients. The whole soup freezes well for about three weeks. The amount of onion used is for about a cup of leftovers. Canned cannellini make extra easy.—Barbara Kafka, Roasting: A Simple Art (1995)

Recipe: Roasted Whole Onions

ROASTED ONION SOUP WITH CANNELLINI BEANS

Makes 4 2/3 C; serves 4

3 C Basic Chicken Stock or any homemade chicken stock (see recipes in Basics section)
1 C leftover roasted onion (see recipes in Vegetables section)
1 2/3 C cooked cannellini beans OR 19 oz can white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tsp kosher salt (or less if using store-bought broth)
2 tsp red wine vinegar
½ bunch (1 ½ oz) fresh basil, washed, leaves stacked, rolled, and cut across into thin strips (about ¾ C)
¼ C freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

In blender container, combine 1 C stock with onions, and blend until smooth, stopping once to scrape down sides of blender. Using a rubber spatula, scrape contents of blender into a medium-sized saucepan. Add remaining 2 C stock, beans, salt, and vinegar, and heat until just warm throughout. Stir to combine ingredients completely. Once soup is warm, add half the basil and stir in Parmesan cheese, if using. Sprinkle remaining basil evenly over each serving.