Tomato, White Bean & Bacon Soup

I had such high hopes for this soup. I’ve had the recipe since the end of summer. Bob had brought in our last batch of tomatoes and I blanched and froze them in the amount called for in this soup. I marked the bag with the name of the soup so I would remember why I’d done this (yes, memory is at issue here, folks. Sometimes I can’t even remember why I’ve walked into a different room in the house!) And, I don’t remember where I got the recipe, which is probably a good thing.

So here’s the deal; this just didn’t rock my boat. And I wanted to like it. I was certain I would like it. I mean, I saved the recipe for months! I’m not sure why I didn’t. I love all of the ingredients, but I guess this was just not a case of the whole being better than its parts. I think a portion of it was the mouth-feel. You puree the soup after adding half the beans. It felt, I don’t know, like kind of mushy to me. Maybe I should have spiced it up a bit. I'm just not sure. But for some reason it didn't speak to me. I just don’t think I’ll make it again. Bob was “okay” with it. So with that being said, you might take a look at it and think you want to try it anyway. If you do, please come back and let me know what you thought of it. I’m interested too, if and how you might have altered the recipe.

Tomato, White Bean, Bacon Soup Recipe
Source-I just can’t remember!
Serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS

1/4 pound bacon, diced
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups peeled, chopped potatoes (recommend Yukon Gold)
6 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (or canned whole tomatoes with juice)
2 cups chicken broth
1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1 can white beans, drained
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1 Cook bacon on medium heat in a large saucepan until lightly browned and fat is rendered. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon from the pan. Set on a plate lined with a paper towel.

2 Add the chopped onion to the pot, cook in the bacon fat on medium heat until soft. Add the minced garlic and cook a minute more. Add the chopped peeled potatoes and cook a few minutes more.

3 Add the tomatoes and chicken broth. Cook until potatoes are cooked through, about 20 minutes (or longer).

4 Stir in the brown sugar. Add half of the beans to the mixture. Use an immersion blender to blend about half of the soup mixture (or blend half of the soup in a standing blender and return to the pot).

5 Add bacon to the soup and the rest of the beans. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sigh...maybe you'll like it better than I did...I just can't let it go, can I?