Recipe: White Bean Soup with Crumbled Bacon and Spiced Brown Butter

Friday, December 7, 2018

This White Bean Soup with Crumbled Bacon and Spiced Brown Butter from HowSweetEats is everything I've ever been looking for when making bean soups in the past. It is absolutely fantastic. I'm a fan, even without the bacon, but bacon always amps up the awesomeness of a soup. The spiced brown butter is a really nice touch, too, and has me considering 101cookbooks' Green Lentil Soup with Curried Brown Butter.

One modification: always double (or quadruple!) this soup batch, it freezes super well.

Will absolutely make again.

Edit 2/8/2022: I decided to include the [quadrupled] recipe here, just so I don't lose it!

White Bean Soup w Bacon and Spiced Brown Butter (x4)

Makes 11-12 2-cup servings.

Ingredients:

• ~16 slices of bacon, chopped [one packge]
• 4 onions, diced (I've also made the soup without onions, it's also fine)
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 8x 14oz cans cannellini beans drained and rinsed (or a mix of bland-flavored beans, like garbanzo)
• 96 fl oz chicken broth (or any broth...or some broth and some water) [12 cups]
• 1 tsp salt (optional)
• 0.5-2 cups half and half (optional)

Spiced Brown Butter:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter [16 Tbsp]
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom [4 pinches]

Soup Instructions:

1. Heat a 7qt pot over medium heat and add the bacon - cook until crispy then remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel.
2. Add the onions and garlic to the pot and stir in the basil, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook until the onions begin to caramelize (15-20 minutes).
3. Stir in the borth and the beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes.
4. About ~10 minutes before time is up is a good time to start making the spiced brown butter.
5. After 20 minutes, use an Immersion Blender to puree the soup completely.
6. Optional: Season with the salt and stir in the half and half right before serving.
7. Serve topped with the crumbled bacon and a drizzle of the spiced brown butter.

Spiced Brown Butter Instructions:

1. Heat the butter over medium heat in a saucepan, whisking constantly.
2. Cook until the butter bubbles and brown bits appear on the bottom (4-5 minutes_, and then quickly stir in the curry & caramom and remove from heat.
3. Whisk for another 10 seconds.
4. Drizzle the butter on the soup before serving.