Bean Soup with Bacon, Chicken and Pesto

I have been so hungry for soup lately! Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s my need for comfort food – I don’t know. But soup, soup, soup is all I’ve been thinking about.

So I put my mind to making a new one. It’s pretty darn good. Don’t worry if you don’t have everything on the list. This soup is good without the pesto. And it’s good without the chicken.

Bean Soup with Bacon, Chicken and Pesto

1/2 lb bacon, cooked until crisp, cooled and crumbled
2 T butter or bacon grease
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
a handful of dried rat tail radishes or celery or both
2 cans great northern beans
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (brown them in the bacon grease!)
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1 tsp sugar
a couple of grinds of black pepper
pesto

Fry the bacon first, then set it aside to cool. Saute the onion, garlic, and carrots in the butter or bacon grease until soft. Add the remaining ingredients, except the pesto. Heat through and simmer for an hour. Serve with a spoon full of pesto stirred in. Makes 8 servings.

It’s really tasty! Everyone here loved it – even the I Don’t Eat Beans kid. I think the bacon had something to do with that.

If you don’t have dried celery or radishes, then use a stalk or two of fresh celery. Or leave it out. We never have fresh celery around, so we started buying a big bunch and dehydrating it to use in soups. Just chop it up and toss it in the dehydrator and dry it until it’s crispy. Store it in a jar or in a bag in the freezer.

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Bean Soup with Bacon, Chicken, and Pesto

Robin from Rurification blogs at Rurification.

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