Bean with Bacon Soup

When I first met Mr Delightful, back before the earth had cooled, he liked canned condensed bean with bacon soup. If I recall, it tasted okay; but I just have this "thing" about canned soups and convenience foods and stuff that isn't organic. So, naturally, I had to come up with a better bean with bacon soup.

Needless to say, even though I don't put the word "organic" in front of every ingredient in my recipes, nearly every ingredient is. But if that's not your thing, you can make it with conventional ingredients. If using conventional bacon, which has far more fat than the organic uncured bacon I use, be sure to drain off the fat. 

I know it sounds crazy to put ketchup in soup, but all I can say is it's really good. At least with the brand I use. Besides adding a touch of tomato and sweetness to the soup, it adds a little organic vinegar and spices as well. Mr Delightful, the lifelong "mmm mmm good" man, pronounced it "even better, much better."

What is your favorite soup? Do you eat it regularly, just when you're sick, only during Soup Weather, or when?

Bean with Bacon Soup

(Makes 12 servings)

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

8 ounces organic hickory smoked uncured bacon, cut into 1/4-inch-wide slices
1 medium (8 ounces) yellow onion, chopped
3 quarts water
2 pounds navy or other small white beans
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped carrots
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 teaspoon marjoram leaves
2 cups lower sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup ketchup

1 In 6-quart Dutch oven, heat olive oil and saute bacon until cooked. (You can skip the oil if you're using conventional bacon; remove all but a tablespoon or two of the fat before adding onions.) Stir in chopped onion and cook until bacon and onions are caramelizing a bit, about 20 minutes. Stir in water and beans. Bring to a boil; you can use that time to chop celery and carrots. Stir in celery and carrots, salt, pepper, thyme and marjoram. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.

Note: Organic uncured bacon is so lean, there is no need to drain off the fat as there would be if using conventional bacon.

2 After 2 hours, stir in chicken broth and ketchup. Continue simmering for 1 hour or until done, adding more liquid (water or broth) if needed. With immersion blender, puree the soup a bit to thicken it, leaving most of the beans whole.

Note: Dried beans can vary a great deal in how much cooking they require. I find three hours usually works for this, but if your beans are not fully cooked at three hours just keep cooking until they are. If your beans cook faster, then at the 3-hour mark the soup may have thickened to your liking without any pureeing needed.