White Bean Soup, Marcella Hazan

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons microplaned garlic
3x 16 ounce cans 6 cups cooked cannellini or other white beans (cooked dry beans are better)
(salt, if using cooked -not canned- beans)
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1 cup homemade broth or water (or ⅓ cup canned beef stock diluted with ⅔ cup water)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Thick grilled or toasted slices of crusty bread (optional)

Put the oil and chopped garlic in a soup pot and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the garlic, stirring it, until is becomes colored a very pale gold.
Add the drained cooked or canned beans, a pinch of salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Cover and simmer gently for 5 to 6 minutes.
Take about ½ cup of beans from the pot and puree them through a food mill back into the pot, together with all the broth. Alternately, use a blender, loosening with a bit of the broth. Simmer for another 5 to 6 minutes, taste, and correct for salt and pepper. Swirl in the chopped parsley, and turn off the heat.
Ladle over the grilled bread slices into individual soup bowls.