Smoky Bean Bacon Soup Recipes

SMOKY WHITE BEAN AND HAM SOUP

Steps:

• Quick-soak the beans: Place the beans in a medium pot and cover with 2 to 3 inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 1 minute. Remove the pot from the heat and let sit for 1 hour. Drain in a colander.
• Place the drained beans into a 5.5-quart Dutch oven or large pot. Add the water, chicken stock, bay leaves, quartered onion, and ham hocks. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and simmer over low heat until the beans are just tender, about 1 hour (depending on the size of the beans, it could take a bit longer).
• Once the beans are tender, pull out the bay leaves, onion remnants, and ham hocks. Discard the bay leaves and onions, but set the ham hocks aside to cool.
• Add the minced onion, carrots, celery, tomatoes, garlic, thyme, and 2 teaspoons of salt to the pot. Increase the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes. While the soup is cooking, and when the ham hocks are cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the hocks, discard any bone, fat, and tough sinew, and chop the meat finely.
• Use a ladle to transfer about 2 cups of the beans and vegetables, along with a bit of broth, to a blender or food processor. (If using a blender, be sure to remove the center knob on the lid and cover with a dishtowel to avoid splatters.) Purée until smooth, and then stir the mixture back into the soup. Add the meat and kale to the soup and simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes more. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, if necessary (I usually add about 1 teaspoon more; beans require a lot of salt to bring out their flavor). At this point, you can serve the soup or refrigerate it for up to 3 days. (It will thicken up in the fridge; thin it with a bit of water, if necessary.)
• When you're ready to eat, garnish each bowl with a drizzle with olive oil (if using) and a heap of grated cheese.
• Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost the soup in the refrigerator for 12 hours and then reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat until hot. through.

BEAN AND BACON SOUP (CANNED OR DRY BEANS!)

Steps:

• In a large heavy bottomed pan, cook the bacon over medium heat. Remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat.
• Add vegetables to pan and cook until onions are translucent and carrots and celery are beginning to soften, 4-5 minutes.
• Add garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for another minute or until fragrant.
• Add chicken broth, water, beans, bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper, and half of bacon. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook, partially covered, for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
• Remove about half of the soup, and puree the remaining soup using either a hand-held immersion blender or a traditional blender. Stir blended and unblended soup together and add remaining bacon, reserving some to garnish, if desired.

SMOKY BEAN & BACON SOUP

Steps:

• Bring broth, tomatoes and beans to boil in large saucepan, stirring occasionally. Simmer on low heat 5 min.
• Stir in spinach and bacon; simmer 1 min. Ladle into bowls. Serve topped with cheese.

SMOKY BEANS WITH BASIL & BACON

Steps:

• Warm the oil in a medium saucepan while you quickly chop the onion into quite small pieces. Add the onion to the pan, give it a good stir with a wooden spoon then leave it to cook over a high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, snip the bacon in half lengthways with scissors and either cook them between 2 sheets of kitchen paper in the microwave for 2-3 minutes on HIGH or in a frying pan in the usual way until the fat is golden and crisp.
• Open and drain the beans then roughly chop the tomatoes and add them both to the pan. Stir well and cook for another few minutes until the tomatoes have softened. Shred the basil and add to the pan with salt and a generous grinding of black pepper - for extra heat you can add a few drops of Tabasco sauce. Spoon onto plates and top each with the bacon. Serve with lightly toasted bread on the side.

RED WINE PINTO BEANS WITH SMOKY BACON

Steps:

• In the bottom of a large pot over medium-high heat, brown bacon until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in onion, celery, carrots, garlic and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Drain beans and add to pot along with 1 tablespoon salt. Pour in enough water to just cover the beans (about 7 to 8 cups). Bring liquid to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently until beans are just tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, in a small pot over medium heat, simmer wine until it is reduced to 2/3 cup, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Remove rosemary branches from bean pot and discard them. Pour wine into beans and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 to 20 minutes longer to meld flavors and thicken broth to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired; add more salt and black or red pepper to taste.

SMOKY BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Soak the beans overnight in triple the amount of water, rinse well, and wash again.
• In a large soup pot, place vegetable stock and beans, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, covered, until beans are tender and start to become mushy.
• Add thyme, salt, carrots, onions, celery, pepper and liquid smoke to taste, and simmer for 30 more minutes, covered, stirring several times to prevent scorching on the bottom of the pot.