Navy Bean Soup

Tonight I mead Navy Bean Soup. I can't help but think of Dad as I made this. He loved Navy Bean soup. I made the beans from scratch and he'd be so proud.

This was delicious. I sorta over cooked the beans so they were mushy. It was still great though.

The recipe doesn't call for it, but I dropped in 3 ham hocks as the beans cooked. And I didn't "sprinkle" my soup with bacon...I dumped the bacon in.

Her recipe has spinach and I don't do cooked spinach. Here's the real recipe.

Second, SkinnyTaste is one of my favorite blogs with some darn good recipes.

Navy Bean and Bacon Soup

Recipe from SkinnyTaste.com

3 15 oz cans navy beans, rinsed and drained
4 slices center cut bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
2 T tomato paste
4 c reduced sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves

Cooking Beans from scratch. Used Great Northern Beans. 

Soaked them the night before. 

Drained and rinsed them.

Cooked with 6 cups hot water for 1.5 hours.

Then picked up the recipe from there.

In a blender, blend 1 can of beans with 1 cup of water.

Sauté the bacon in a large pot until crisp. Set aside on paper towels.

Add the onion, carrots and celery to the pot and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste then add the pureed beans, beans, broth, rosemary and bay leaves.

Bring to a boil, cover and cook on low until the beans and vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes. Place 2 cups of the soup in the blender and puree to thicken, then add back to the soup along with the spinach and stir until wilted. To serve, ladle into 6 bowls and top with bacon.