Roasted Lima Bean and Tomato Soup

Yield: 4 servings
Time: 45 minutes + a few hours roasting time

Frozen lima beans work okay, but fresh are better; serve with nice bread and olive oil!

Ingredients

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes
• 4 cups fresh lima beans (frozen okay, but not as tasty)
• 4 T olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1 medium onion, peeled & chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 7 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• rind from parmesan
• freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250. On baking sheet or pan, toss tomatoes with 1 T olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast 4 hours or until tomatoes are wrinkled, soft, slightly browned and about 1/2 their original size.
   Rinse, drain and steam lima beans (about 3 minutes).
2. Turn up oven to 400 (if tomatoes not quite browned, leave in oven). On baking sheet or pan, toss lima beans with 1 T olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast 20-30 minutes or until lima beans are wrinkled, blistered and slightly browned.
3. In a large, heavy soup pot, saute onion and garlic in remaining olive oil until slightly browned. Stir in tomatoes and lima beans, and add broth and parmesan rind. After bringing to a boil, let simmer for 20 minutes. Add parsley and let simmer for another 5 minutes. Using two wood spoons, find parmesan rinds and squeeze off any loose parsesan before removing rinds from soup. Using a hand blender or food processor in batches, puree soup until 75% smooth. Return to low heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle and garnish with grated parmesan.