Navy bean, bacon and tomato soup

 

This is the soup you're happy to haul out when your husband says "It's 2 below, honey," a phrase that's never welcome, but especially so when the day before you had started life by the beach. Sure, you woke up sounding like Lauren Bacall with a smoker's cough, just the thing before spending the day in air travel land, but you were at the beach. Outside on purpose in February, without wearing a parka.

Navy bean and tomato soup

Adapted from “The Supper Book” by Marion Cunningham, a nice volume of recipes that tend toward fewer ingredients and relatively simple preparation. This one takes some time from start to finish, but very little actual hands-on time, so it makes a good Sunday night soup.

Ingredients

1 cup dried white navy beans

2 (15½ ounce) cans fire roasted tomatoes

2 onions, chopped small

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ pound smoked bacon or salt pork, cut into small chunks

1 teaspoon dried thyme

4 cups water or broth

Method

Soak navy beans overnight with enough water to cover by two inches. Drain.

Add to pot along with tomatoes, onions, garlic, bacon, thyme, water, and salt and pepper as desired. Cover and bring to a simmer. Cook 3½ hours until beans are tender. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper to taste.

Rating: Simple and tasty. Like most soups, it gets more flavorful if made ahead and reheated.


It took me a few weeks to recover enough to post photos, obviously.  Winter is still too long.