Cheap Soup and Hard Times

I am no Panglossian. I do not think that this is "the best of all possible worlds", though I think it unlikely any of us will get a chance at living in another one. We must do what we can. I realize this is an odd prelude to a recipe for Bean Soup , but these are hard, hard times.

Reduced by circumstances a week or two ago, I sold some books at McKay. As I walked in dragging two heavy sacks I overheard two young people talking. It appeared they had not seen each other for a while. The young man was gentle-eyed and bearded- just the sort of young man I would have admired 40 years ago.

"Yeah," I heard him say to his friend," They just called us all into a room and let us go. They're closing down".

I could not stay to eavesdrop more, but why would I have needed to? And this week,visiting a work friend in another part of the building I talked with her and with another woman working there. This woman was a dignified sole bread winner and the mother of several.

"I don't understand it. We work. We have jobs. Why don't we have money?", this woman asked.

During the first Great Depression people went to the movies to see the sleek Myrna Loy and the debonair William Powell with his ever-present martini. Glamour, sophistication, elegance in a theatre helped people forget what awaited them outside. No soup, or if they were fortunate- cheap soup. Thank God for Cannellini beans. (The Tuscans do.)

Cannellini bean soup.


2 16oz cans of cannellini beans

2 16 oz cans of chicken broth

2 to 4 cloves of garlic, or even more, if you can stand it.

3 three inch rounds of pancetta, or three strips of crispy bacon.

4 or 5 sage leaves , minced.

sea salt to taste

1 or 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning

1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil wouldn't hurt either.

1 tablespoon of tomato paste. ( For aesthetic reasons- it improves the soup's color.)


I hope anyone reading this is not such a novice as to need to be told to open the cans, but if you are- go and grab your can opener. Put the beans and broth in a biggish sauce pan. In goes the salt next. Then the garlic,sent through the garlic press. Italian seasoning, olive oil, diced pancetta, and minced sage next. Lastly add the tomato paste. Heat on medium heat covered until it just boils, then cover and simmer on low. I think a half hour to an hour of simmering is just right. This should serve 4, if the people you live with don't make pigs of themselves. I like a toasted slice of Italian bread with this.