Steff's Dumbed-down White Bean & Garlic Sausage

Soup's the bomb in the winter, so it's rather tragic so many recipes are for 6-8 or more servings. I have a single-person city apartment. It's itty. Then it's bitty. Then it's itty some more. The fridge was made to its proportions.

I got no space to freeze leftovers, and I don't want to be eating it for six days, either.

So, here's my "it's too fucking wet out there to go to the store, what's in the kitchen?" made-for-one recipe for White Bean & Garlic Sausage soup.*

Take a couple garlic sausages and chop them into bitsies. You're going to put them in a medium stock pan and saute 'em till they're rendered down and nearly crispy.

Put them aside in a bowl and save a tablespoon of the fat. Add a teaspoon of butter and a finely chopped leek and shallot. If the fatty bits are starting to burn on the pan bottom, toss a tablespoon of stock in and deglaze it. Cook the leek and shallot for five or 10 minutes, until they're caramelizing. Add two or three cloves of minced garlic, depending on your braveness, and cook a further 2 minutes. Add a teaspoon of chopped Herbes de Provence, or you can do rosemary or thyme. Yer choice. Mix and saute another minute.

Rinse a 19-oz can of cannellini beans well and add them to the pan. Toss and saute for about 2 minutes to get the flavours into the beans a bit. Add a couple cups of stock, to cover the beans.

Cook about 15 minutes on a good simmer. Then, puree the beans with stock. Return to the pan, mix. If you like the consistency, great. If it's too thick, add more stock. Bring it back to temperature, add the garlic sausage, and let it simmer another 10 to 15 minutes.

THEN you want to taste it. Don't season it BEFORE the sausage, because the sausage has lots of salt. Let it simmer, get happy, and then you'll know where you're really at. Now, season with sea salt and pepper.

I had it by itself, but some bread with oil and vinegar would be yummy. You'll have enough for two servings with this recipe.

*I went to the store but not a food one, those were the opposite direction. I got professional-grade muffin tins, a flexible cutting board (why'd I wait so long?! killer $3.99 purchase!), a retro silver paper-towel holder that's wall mountable, and over there still, awaiting pickup, is my set of bowls! Five stoneware bowls in pretty Martha Stewart-type pastels, all the way up to a 3.2L bowl, $12.99! I got soaked! So wet feet. Wah!