Tuscan Bean Soup

I found this recipe in Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Vegetables and tweaked it a bit. It is a great hearty soup that makes enough to easily feed 8. The original recipe called for farro but the first time I made it, when I pulled the bag I had out of the cupboard bugs had been snacking on it. So I threw it away and instead I used a similar but smaller ancient form of wheat from France called petit épeautre. Petit épeautre is often called by its German name, einkorn and is sold under that name by the brand Jovial. Over time I have found that I prefer it to farro in this soup. The orginal recipe also called for red pepper flakes, I use piment d'Espelette instead. Piment d'Espelette is a mildly spicy red pepper from the Basque area of France. I think kale would be very good in this and it would also add a color contrast. I have increased the volume of vegetables from the original recipe.

Tuscan Bean Soup
2 cups dried beans of your choice, I like white beans
1large onion, diced
2 large leaks, just the white part, sliced
1 large carrot diced
4 cloves garlic diced
1/4 cup olive oil
5 small tomatoes, peeled and diced, canned if you are making this out of tomato season
a couple of sprigs of thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp piment d'Espelette (you may use red pepper flakes to taste instead)
2 or 3 slices of good smoked bacon
6 cups chicken stock
grated parmesan cheese to pass at the table.

1 cup petit épeautre (also called einkorn) or farro
salted water

Soak the beans overnight.  Cook all the vegetables except the tomato in the olive oil in a large nonreactive pot over medium heat, stirring from time to time, until they are translucent. Drain the beans and add them to the pot along with the tomatoes, bacon, piment d'Espelette, thyme, oregano, and bay leaf and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the stock, bring the soup to a boil and then lower the heat until the soup simmers. Cover leaving the lid ajar, stirring from time to time. When the beans are almost cooked, after about an hour, add the salt. Cook for another 15 minutes.
If you like you can cook the bacon until crisp, remove it from the pan, and then cook the vegetables in the bacon fat. The bacon can then be added to the soup just before serving.
While the soup is cooking, cook the petite épeautre or farro in a second pot in salted water that covers it by a couple of inches. I use 1/2 tsp salt in the water. When the grains are cooked, after about 40 or 45 minutes, drain them. they should be a little al dente, not mushy. When the beans are cooked, stir in the grain and simmer for another 10 minutes. I serve the soup with grated parmesan.