This recipe originated as 'Tuscan Bean and Vegetable Soup' in Mediterranean Light, a cookbook by Martha Rose Shulman. While the recipe had its merits, it wasn't enough to stand on its own as a meal. I dropped the cabbage and added sausages and some other vegetables. The result is a tasty concoction that is worth making again and again. Enjoy!
  - paulh

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 cups of water - approximately 700ml
• half a teaspoon of garlic powder - or 1 or 2 fresh garlic cloves
• 1 tsp of dried thyme
• 9 Italian sausages - approximately 350g
• 1 medium size can of tomatoes - 400g
• 1 medium size can of cannellini beans - 400g
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 or 2 carrots depending on size, chopped - approximately 225g
• 1 small potato, diced
• 1 medium sized zucchini, chopped
• 1 small broccoli crown, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 175g tomato purée/a small size can

Instructions:

Put the oil and water into a large cooking pot, (which should be big enough to hold at least a gallon of liquid), over a low flame.

Add the garlic, thyme and sausages.

Open the cans of tomatoes and cannellini beans and add them to the pot.

Then chop the fresh vegetables: onion, carrots, potato, zucchini, broccoli and celery.

By now the sausages should be partly cooked, so chop them, too, and stir.

Add the chopped vegetables.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, put the lid on the pot and simmer the soup for 30 minutes, stirring regularly.

Just before serving, mix in the tomato purée and serve. Makes about four hearty servings.