Heat the olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat, l and sauté the chopped onions and carrots, stirring regularly for about 3-5 mins.

Prepare the vegetable stock adding 500 ml of boiling water to the vegetable bullion. Add the beans, all the dry ingredients and the bay leaves to the pan, then add the stock. Let it cook for 25', stirring regularly to prevent sticking.

Remove the bay leaves. Add the butter, jam and coconut milk. Add more water if necessary, stir well and continue to cook for 10 more minutes. At this point it's easier for the soup to stick to the pan so I recommend stirring every 3-5 minutes. Add the umeshu or sweet wine, stir well and let the soup simmer for another 15 minutes or until the beans are fully cooked.

Serve with croutons or crunchy bread with a dash of olive olive and oregano (optional). Here, I have used "freselle" (made by my mother, with fennel seeds), a type of Neapolitan crunchy bread - we love it with tomatoes, tuna and oregano!