If I told you this soup takes more than two heads of garlic to make, would you balk?

Fear not, though, because that copious amount won’t result in a dish (or home-cook) that reeks. The garlic taste is prominent to be sure, but it’s not aggressively sharp or overwhelming pungent. Instead, it gives this vegan bean and veggie soup a deep, delicious flavor that you taste and feel all the way to your core. In other words, the kind of soup your body craves especially at this time of year.

“Jeremy Fox’s Yellow Eye Soup” is from the new “The Bean Book” (Ten Speed Press, 2014), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Steve Sando, the founder of Napa’s Rancho Gordo, a specialty food company known for growing and sourcing heirloom beans prized by discriminating chefs and home-cooks around the country; and Julia Newberry, general manager of Rancho Gordo.

The book takes you through 50 different bean varieties, how to prepare them from scratch, and feature them in more than 100 recipes.

Enjoy the world of beans in recipes that span “White Bean and Anchovy Dip,” “Garbanzo Salad with Shaved Red Onions and Fennel,” and “Khoresh-E Ghormeh Sabzi” (Persian Herb, Bean, and Lamb Stew) to “Roasted Chicken Thighs Over Poblano and White Bean Sauce,” “Alubia Blancas with Clams and Spanish Chorizo,” and “Your Black Muslim Bakery Navy Bean Pie.”

Fox is a partner-chef of Birdie G’s (named for his daughter) and Rustic Canyon, both in Santa Monica. It was in Northern California, though, when he first made a name for himself, when he opened the ground-breaking, plant-forward restaurant, Ubuntu in Napa.

As such, this is a chef who knows how to bring out the most in vegetarian dishes. Yellow eye beans, which sport a beautiful, caramel-colored evil eye, may most often be cooked with pork, such as in baked beans, Sando writes in the book. But in Fox’s hands, you won’t miss the meat at all.

That’s where the garlic comes in. An entire head, plus onion, celery, carrot, and parsley stems are plopped into a pot of water to flavor the beans after they cook. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to soak these beans overnight before cooking, either. Because Rancho Gordo beans are so fresh as opposed to other beans that sit on a supermarket shelf for who knows how long, these require soaking for only 4 to 6 hours.

Once the beans are cooked, let them sit in their broth, but remove all the vegetables and head of garlic (see, not so scary, right?).

Next, grate another entire head of garlic (stay with me here) and saute in a big pot with chopped leeks, carrots, celery, chile flakes, and rosemary. Add some canned tomatoes, then all the beans plus the cooking liquid.

Just before serving, stir in a generous amount of chopped parsley. Ladle soup into bowls, and garnish with torn, toasted bread that’s been rubbed with a garlic clove (the last one, I promise), and a drizzle of olive oil.

You’ll be surprised at the big flavor of this soup. It’s garlicky and onion-y, but tempered by the sweetness of carrots. It’s also quite hearty with an abundance of yellow eye beans that are tender and velvety, with a russet potato-like texture, as Sando so aptly describes. There’s also a gentle peppery heat from the chile flakes that warms the throat ever so nicely.

Yes, it’s a soup that will scare away vampires. But it’s sure to prompt requests for seconds from everyone else.

Jeremy Fox’s Yellow Eye Soup

(Makes 6 to 8 servings)

For the beans:

3 cups uncooked yellow eye or buckeye beans (about 1 1/2 packages of Rancho Gordo beans)

1 carrot, peeled

2 celery stalks, halved

1 yellow onion, quartered

1 head garlic, halved crosswise

Stems from 1 bunch fresh Italian parsley, tied in cheesecloth

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For the soup:

1 head garlic

2 leeks

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

3 large carrots, peeled and diced

5 celery stalks, diced

1 1/2 teaspoons red chile flakes

2 tablespoons chopped rosemary

1 cup canned whole San Marzano tomatoes, drained and chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Rustic bread, sliced

1 garlic clove, halved

To make the beans: Pick the beans over and soak for 4 to 6 hours. Drain the beans and place them in a large pot. Add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, and parsley stem sachet. Pour in 3 quarts cold water and bring to a boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the top. Decrease the heat to a gentle simmer and cook until the beans are soft and creamy but not falling apart, 30 to 90 minutes. (Start checking after 25 minutes; the fresher the beans, the shorter the cooking time.) Add the salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Remove the pot from the heat and discard the sachet and vegetables. Let the beans cool in their broth.

To make the soup: Peel and finely grate the garlic cloves, then set aside. Trim off the dark leek tops, then halve the white and light green parts lengthwise. Rinse, then finely chop. Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the grated garlic, leeks, carrots, celery, chile flakes, and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the rawness of the vegetables is just gone, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until slightly caramelized, about 3 minutes. Add the beans and their cooking broth, and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Just before serving, add the parsley. Toast the bread slices. While still hot, rub them with garlic halves, then tear into large pieces. Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a few toasts, then drizzle with olive oil.

From “The Bean Book” by Steve Sando and Julia Newberry

More Rancho Gordo Recipe to Enjoy: Alubia Bean Salad with Pineapple Vinaigrette

And: A Visit to Jeremy Fox’s Birdie G’s Restaurant