When winter weather hits I crave soup. I mean I don't want anything else but warm soup. And maybe apple cider. Spiked apple cider to be exact. Warm and fuzzes are taking over.
Mmmmmmm...
But back to the soup thing. There is nothing more satisfying to me than a bowl of delicious soup. Something even more satisfying is making it at home and using up vegetables in the fridge. I hate when anything goes bad before it is completely used. There isn't any ingredient that is too out of the ordinary here and this soup comes together rather quickly.
Oh and did I mention there is bacon in it?
I didn't?
Well there is BACON in this soup and it adds the perfect amount of salty and smokey flavor to make this not just any soup of the week kind of soup. But don't you vegetarians fret, you can make this soup without the bacon and it will be just as satisfying and delicious.
There is currently about 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground today. So it was most necessary to make something comforting. Soup and grilled cheese just seemed like the perfect idea for lunch.
I hope you are staying warm if you are stuck inside because of the snow. But if you are like me you are actually enjoying the winter wonderland even if it is keeping you from traveling anywhere.
I must go and get back to devouring this soup...
6 cups organic low sodium chicken stock
1/3 pound thick-cut smokehouse bacon, diced
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 heaping cup carrot, chopped
1 large Spanish onion, chopped
3 heaping cups fresh baby spinach, stems removed
1 cup fresh organic tomatoes, chopped
2 cans white beans
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 1/2 Tbls olive oil
2 heads of garlic, roasted
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup heavy cream or half & half
homemade croutons (for garnish)
shredded Parmesan cheese (for garnish)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the skins from the cloves of the 2 heads of garlic. Take some aluminum foil and make a packet with the garlic cloves. Drizzle the garlic cloves with 1/2 Tbls olive oil and place in the oven until garlic is nice and tender. About 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large dutch oven over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until crisp and fat rendered, add about 1 Tbls olive oil to the pan to help the cooking process.
Once bacon is crisp, toss in the carrot, celery, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, rosemary and salt and pepper. Saute until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
Mash the roasted garlic into a paste and add to the vegetables along with the chicken stock and white beans. Bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
With an immersion blender slightly pulse the simmering soup. You still want to have chunks of white beans and vegetables so don't go too crazy. If you don't have an immersion blender remove about 2 cups of the soup and puree in a blender or food processor and return to the pot.
Now add in your spinach and chopped tomatoes. Mix and swirl in the heavy cream. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls and garish with croutons and Parmesan cheese.
Looks so yum
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