White Bean Soup with Bacon and Herbs

Inspiration:
Food & Wine


Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pounds thick-sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, finely diced
• 2 celery ribs, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons chopped thyme
• 2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
• 1 pound Great Northern beans, soaked overnight and drained
• 10 cups chicken stock
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

1. In a large soup pot, cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until browned and crisp, about 7 minutes. Drain, reserving the fat and bacon separately.
2. Heat the olive oil in the soup pot. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf and 1 teaspoon each of the chopped thyme and rosemary and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the drained beans, stock and 3 tablespoons of the reserved bacon fat and bring to a boil. Simmer the soup over moderately low heat until the beans are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
3. Discard the bay leaf and stir in the remaining thyme and rosemary. Season the soup with salt and pepper and transfer to shallow bowls. Garnish the soup with the bacon and serve.

Recipe Notes: "The soup and bacon can be refrigerated separately for up to 3 days. Recrisp the bacon before serving."

My Notes: This is a good, tasty soup. I think I prefer the recipe for Bean and Kale Soup, though. However, who doesn't love bacon? So next time I may try to combine these two recipes.


Liz's Rating: 8/10
Tim's Rating: 8/10