Tomato, Cranberry Bean and Pumpkin Soup with Escarole

We found the recipe for this soup in Franny's Simple-Seasonal-Italian a wonderful cookbook given to me by my amazing daughter. All you had to do is look at the photo of the finished soup from the book to know you had to have some - 

Description from the book - 

"It is a brothy autumnal soup that embodies the transition from summer to fall, with the last of the seasons tomatoes and cranberry beans and the first showing of pumpkin and escarole." 

The borlotti beans (cranberry beans) are cooked in water with Parmasan cheese rinds, pieces of roasted pumpkin, fresh tomatoes, fennel, celery, rosemary, sage and escarole. The pumpkin adds sweetness, the cranberry beans add satisfying pops of richness and the tomatoes do what they do best all set off by the mild bitterness of the escarole.

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

4  medium ripe tomatoes peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil plus more for drizzling
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1/2 cup diced fennel bulb
1/2 cup diced celery
4 cloves of garlic minced
Parmigiano-Reggiano rind
1 large sage sprig
1 large rosemary sprig
1 1/2 cups dry cranberry beans soaked over night
5 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 cups peeled and diced pumpkin ( about 3/4 inch pieces)
6 cups chopped escarole - 2 heads
Freshly cracked black pepper

In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, fennel, celery and garlic. Cook until tender.

Add the tomatoes and cook until their juices are  released (the liquid should be about level with the tomatoes). Lower the heat to a simmer.

Add the cheese rind cut into small pieces, the sage and the rosemary, the beans, water and salt to the pot and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and cook until the beans are tender - about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile brush the pumpkin wedges with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast at 375 for 30 minutes. When done cut the slices into pieces about 3/4 inch square.

Stir the pumpkin in with the beans, cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes more.

Add the escarole to the pot, cover, and stir every few minutes until the escarole is wilted. Remove the sachet and squeeze it over the pot to release any remaining flavor into the soup.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve, drizzle with olive oil and a few turns of pepper.