White Bean Soup with Pancetta and Rosemary

Submitted by Timbit

Uploaded by Toast

Here, under the wire, is my White Bean Soup with Pancetta and Rosemary.

I got to thinking about how beans and pork go well together. So I decided to make an Italian version of a split pea soup, using white beans and pancetta instead of split peas and bacon.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of white (navy) beans
• 6 cups of water
• 1.5 cups pancetta, roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 large Vidalia or Spanish Onion
• 1 cup white wine
• 6 cups cooking liquid of choice
• 3 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 cup heavy cream

Method

1) Rinse beans in water. Remove broken beans or stones. Soak 2 cups of white or navy beanies in water for 12 hours or so. To soften the beans quickly, add to a pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour.

2) Roughly chop pancetta into chunks.

3) Add 2 tbsp EVOO to soup pot. There should be plenty of fat in the pan not to burn.

4) Once pancetta is cripsy, remove and place on plate covered with paper towel. Make sure the fat from the pancetta is still in the pan.

5) Add onion and sweat. DO NOT SAUTE. The only brown you see (LOL BROWN) should be from the pancetta fat, not from the caramelization of the onions.

6) Add I cup of white wine to deglaze all of the bacony-goodness from the pot.

7) Add 6 cups of cooking liquid to the pot(I used 5 cups chicken stock and 1 cup vegetable broth because I like the flavour of the broth). Season with salt, depending on the saltiness of the cooking liquid. Add freshly groud pepper.

8) Add beanies.

9) Bruise 3 whole stocks of rosemary with the back of your knife. Tie into a bunch with butchers twine and deposit into broth.You could just chop the rosemary leaves up and add to the soup, but I wanted the soup to be mostly white, so I just bruised the stalks to get some of the oils out. I tied them into a bundle to make fishing them out of the pot easier.

Later...

10) Once contents of pot are brought to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 60 minutes, or until the beans are nice and tender.

Now, things to do while you wait: Ogle the cat!

Threaten a novelty mug!

Do a Jumble!

11) Remove from heat and blend in a food processor, blender or, as I've used, an immersion blender.

12) Whisk in 1 cup of cream (optional, but really adds to the flavour of the dish). Add most of the pancetta, reserving some for garnish.

13) Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serving

14) Serve in a bowl, add a handful of crispy pancetta to garnish. Also add chives and curls of parmesan cheese (optional, but delicious). Sit back with a nice glass of wine, dig in and warm the cockles of your black and twisted heart.

BON APPETIT!