Rosemary White Bean Soup with Bacon Lardons & Manchego Toast
This soup makes a perfect appetizer for when the warmth of summer begins to fade away, and we get our first taste of the year’s cool autumn breeze. It never ceases to amaze me how such a simple and easy-to-make soup can be so flavorful and aromatic, yet this one is all of those things.
The cannellini beans are light yet delicious, and combined with the aromatic herbs steaming from the bowl and into their noses, this recipe is guaranteed to whet your guests’ palates and leave them ready for the main course.
I love how versatile this dish is. It can be made vegetarian easily by omitting the bacon, and doing so will not take away from its essence, which is captured in the beans, thyme, rosemary, and the crunchy and nutty manchego toast I would highly recommend you pair it with.
Serves four guests
Ingredients
For the soup
1/2 lb thick cut bacon, cut into small pieces
32 oz canned cannellini beans, drained
1/2 half Spanish onion, small dice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 carrot, small dice
2 celery ribs, small dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
48 oz chicken stock
1 bay leaf
For the toast
1 baguette
1/4 cup olive oil
4 oz manchego, grated
2 Tbs chopped parsley
Preparation
Prepare the soup
Render bacon with olive oil, add carrot, celery and cook over low heat until onions and celery are translucent.
Add garlic, bay leaf and half of the rosemary and thyme and cook until the herbs are very fragrant, about one minute.
Add chicken stock and beans and simmer over medium low until beans are tender, about 30 minutes.
Add remaining herbs and season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with: Manchego Toast, chopped parsley and extra virgin olive oil drizzle.
To make vegetarian: Omit bacon.
Prepare the toast
Cut the baguette on a bias into thin slices.
Drizzle with olive oil, and top with the grated manchego.
Broil until cheese is melted. Top with chopped parsley, and serve alongside the soup.
Tags
