Sweet Bean and Bacon Soup Recipe

Did your daddy ever inform you that when "he was a kid, he walked 10 miles to school everyday, barefoot, in the snow"? My papa did, and I believed him for many years. He was from Minnesota; they had snow there. We lived in LA-- palm trees, no snow. How was I to understand?

We grew up with hearty soups, although in Los Angeles there was maybe one month a year when it truly made good sense to consume them.

So now, anytime it's cool enough to wear socks, it's soup weather as far as I'm concerned. Right?
Mentioning which, I'm constantly delighted by how great pork, in any form, and beans are together. This classic Bean and Bacon Soup is the sibling to White Bean and Ham Soup, and is just as belly warming.

There's simply enough bacon to offer the white bean soup lots of flavor, but not even to weigh you down. We've puréed about half of the soup so that it is chunky, with a creamy based that originates from the beans. Take pleasure in!

Bean and Bacon Soup Recipe

In this recipe we are making the bean soup beginning with dry beans that we soak overnight. If you don't have time to soak beans overnight, you can put the beans into a pot of water, bring the water to a boil, get rid of from heat, and let sit for hour, and after that drain. Pre-soaking the beans will help them prepare faster.

If you would rather work with canned beans, utilize 3 to 4 15-ounce cans of drained pipes white beans and cook them in step 3 for just 15 minutes, not an hour.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry Great Northern white beans, covered with a couple inches of water and soaked over night
• 5 ounces of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch wide pieces
• 2 cups sliced onion (1 huge onion).
• 3/4 cup chopped celery (about 2 ribs of celery).
• 3/4 cup chopped carrots (1 big carrot).
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon).
• 6 cups chicken stock.
• 2 bay leaves.
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme.
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt.
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste.
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika.
• 1 ounce bacon (1 to 2 slices), prepared and crumbled for garnish (optional).
• 2 Tbsp sliced fresh parsley for garnish (optional).

Method

• Drain the beans: Drain the beans that have actually been taking in water. (If you have not currently soaked the beans, and you do not have time to do so overnight, you can put them in a huge pot of water, bring to a boil, eliminate from heat and let sit for an hour, then drain.).
• Cook the bacon and veggies: Put the bacon into a huge (5 to 6 quart) thick-bottomed Dutch oven on medium high heat. Let the bacon cook for a minute or two to begin rendering out a few of its fat, then include the chopped onion, celery, and carrots. Lower the heat to low, cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until vegetables are completely cooked through and softened. Include the garlic and cook a minute more.
• Add beans, stock, flavorings, simmer: Add the drained pipes beans to the pot. Include the stock, the bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper. Boost heat to high to bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to keep a simmer, partly covered, for 1 hour or until the beans are extremely soft.
• Add tomato paste and paprika: Stir in the tomato paste and the paprika. Cook for 5 more minutes.
• Purée half the soup: Remove the bay leaves. Utilizing an immersion mixer, purée most of the soup. You don't desire the soup to be perfectly smooth, but you wish to purée enough of it so that the beans develop a velvety base.

Include more salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with collapsed prepared bacon and chopped parsley to serve.

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