Sweet Potato Soup With Sage, White Beans and Pasta

From an old Magazine (late 1980's) I bought at a second hand store for 20 cents. Filling (more like a thick chowder than a soup) and perfect for a cold night with a large loaf of crusty bread with lashings of butter and ready in under an hour.

• Ready In: 55 mins
• Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  oil
• 1  kg sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 1  red onion, peeled and diced
• 2  large potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3  carrots, diced
• 3  celery ribs, diced
• 4  liters chicken (or water and stock cubes) or 4  liters  vegetable stock (or water and stock cubes)
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons  chopped fresh sage
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh parsley (or celery tops)
• 1 (425 g)  tin white beans (Cannelini, butter, haricot etc)
• 1  cup  raw pasta shells (or any small pasta)
• 1  teaspoon fresh ground pepper
•  salt

Directions

1. In a large pot heat the oil and fry all the vegetables for 3 - 5 minutes, stiring often to stop from burning. Add the sage and cook for a further minute.
2. Add the stock (hot stock will make the soup cook faster) and bring to the boil. Let the veggies cook (about 10 minutes) and use a potato masher to roughly mash the veggies so you have plenty of chunky bits, but they aren't too big. Reduce to a slow boil.
3. Add the pasta and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add the canned beans and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir through the parsley, salt and pepper.
5. Let sit for a few minutes before serving with bread.