Bean Soup With Parsley Salad And Bacon

By Molly O’Neill

Published January 28, 1995

Total Time
1 hour 45 minutes
Rating
5(9)
Comments
Read comments

Featured in: Soup du Soir

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

    or to print this recipe.

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:Six servings

THE SOUP

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

  • 2 medium onions, peeled and diced

  • 3 cups dried navy beans, soaked overnight and drained

  • 3 quarts chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned

  • 2 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt

  • Freshly ground pepper to taste

  • 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

  • 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

THE BACON

  • 1 pound slab bacon, cut into ¾-inch-thick slices, then across into ¼-inch-wide strips

THE PARSLEY SALAD

  • 1 ½ cups Italian parsley, very coarsely chopped

  • 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • ¾ teaspoon salt

  • Freshly ground pepper to taste

THE CROUTONS

  • 18 ¼-inch-thick rounds French baguette, about 1 inch in diameter

  • 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

THE FINISHING TOUCHES

  • 1 large head roasted garlic, cloves separated

  • 1 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    To make the soup, heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and onions and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans and broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the beans are soft, about 1 ½ hours. Using a slotted spoon, remove 1 ½ cups of beans and place in a food processor with 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Puree until smooth and stir back into the soup. Add the salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Simmer for 5 minutes. Reheat before serving.

  2. Step 2

    To make the condiments, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fry the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until well browned, pouring off excess fat as it accumulates in the skillet. Drain on paper towels. Set aside.

  3. Step 3

    Toss together the parsley, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside. Brush the bread rounds with 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil, place on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 8 minutes. Pile on a plate. Place the bacon, parsley salad, roasted garlic and the Parmesan in separate bowls.

  4. Step 4

    Ladle the soup into 6 bowls. Serve, passing the condiments separately.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

5 out of 5
9 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

Charlotte K

This is an exceptional bean soup. All experienced cooks can decide which of the accompaniments they want to use or not; I skipped the bacon and croutons but used the parsley salad ingredients. I believe I can always find a good bean soup, but I'm not sure I can find another one this good. I cut out the recipe years ago, way before this cooking site, and I'm working my way through all those cutout recipes--marking them here if they work so I can toss the paper.

Charlotte K

This is an exceptional bean soup. All experienced cooks can decide which of the accompaniments they want to use or not; I skipped the bacon and croutons but used the parsley salad ingredients. I believe I can always find a good bean soup, but I'm not sure I can find another one this good. I cut out the recipe years ago, way before this cooking site, and I'm working my way through all those cutout recipes--marking them here if they work so I can toss the paper.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.