Creamy White Bean And Bacon Soup Food

CREAMY WHITE BEAN AND BACON SOUP

Steps:

• Soak your beans overnight covered in water. Drain the next day and set aside.
• In a large stockpot, add the bacon to the pan and cook until bacon pieces are brown and crispy. Remove and let drain on a paper towel.
• If there's a lot of bacon grease in the pan, dump out all but 3 tbsp. of it.
• Saute onion, garlic, and carrots in the bacon grease until vegetables start to get tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rosemary and cook for an addition 1 minute.
• Gently pour in the chicken stock and add the drained beans. Whisk the tomato paste in until all has dispersed and incorporated into the soup.
• Bring mixture up to a boil then cover and let simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• When the soup is ready, carefully use your immersion blender and gently pulse the bean mixture until a desired creamy texture is achieved. You see whole beans in my picture - that's because I gently pulsed and left some beans whole because I wanted texture in my soup. You're more than welcome to blend the entire mixture to be more of a puree consistency. If you're worried about blending too much, you can always ladle out a few scoopfuls of beans, blend the soup, then add the beans back in. Really, it's all up to preference! :)
• Serve hot with bacon pieces on top.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

CREAMY WHITE BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a 4 quart saucepan on medium high heat.
• Add onion, carrots and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until they are soft.
• Add beans, water, and seasonings.
• Stir and reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes or until carrots are tender.
• Take half of soup and blend in blender until smooth.
• Return soup to bean mixture in pan and stir.
• Ladle into bowls and drizzle with olive oil before serving.
• Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.
• Note: You can add 2 cups of minced spinach after pureeing soup and cook until done.