Calamari Cranberry Bean Soup

For too long, I have been picking out only the recipes that I know that my family and I would like. I know that we have somewhat limited tastes, with a strong leaning towards Mexican, southwestern, and American foods in general. We grew up and-after some interesting times in odd corners of the world-now live in what is often called the Intermountain West, among the Rocky Mountains in Utah. Seafood, for instance, has not been a big part of our upbringing, and we shy away from exotic items such as lamb.

I have decided to repent of my provincial ways, and expand our horizons here. It's time I shared some of the ways others use beans that may excite and entice those of you with different backgrounds and tastes.

Here's the first of these exotic (to me) dishes, a bean soup with calamari (squid). We probably won't try it at our house (we don't even know where to go to buy squid!), but I'll bet a number of you will find this to be a great soup.

• 1 1/4 cups dried liguri or cranberry beans
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 sprigs sage
• salt, to taste
• 2 medium red onions, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1/4 teaspoon or more crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus additional for garnish
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 pound fresh calamari, cleaned and cut into small pieces
• freshly ground pepper

Rinse the beans, removing pebbles, dirt, and other foreign objects. Soak overnight in 2 quarts of cold water.

Drain and rinse the beans; place in medium saucepot with 2 quarts fresh water. Wrap 2 garlic cloves, 1 sprig rosemary and 1 sprig sage in cheesecloth, and add to the pot. Bring to a boil; then simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt. Continue to cook for 15 to 25 minutes, or until beans are tender. Add water as needed to keep beans covered. Let beans cool in water.

In a food processor, place onions, 6 cloves garlic, 1 sprig rosemary, 1 sprig sage, butternut squash, crushed red pepper, and tomato paste. Purée it all until smooth. In a soup pot, heat 1/4 cup olive oil and the purée. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the white wine and cook until the wine reduces by half.

Drain the beans, reserving liquid. Add the beans to the soup pot with up to 4 cups of the cooking liquid; simmer for 25 minutes. Add the calamari in last 2 to 3 minutes. Thin with cooking liquid as needed.

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