White Bean Soup with Bacon

"If I had a restaurant, I would include this soup in the menu". 

And that was the declaration I pronounced after the first taste of this amazing soup. And it is great because I have been meaning to include more legums into our diet...Do you know that you are supposed to eat 3 times a week legums: lentils, beans or chickpeas??? I definitely do not do that, but I think I should at least try do it once or twice per week. Well, this recipe will do that for you, also it is not hard (perhaps the khale part, although you can also skip). This recipe is an adaption of Smitten Kitchen's version, which includes even more yummy touches here and there, but to me this soup was already real fantastic with all the fancy touches. 

The game changer of this recipe was: bacon. 

INGREDIENTS:
-600 grams of potatoes. 
-200 grams of smoked bacon.
-1,5 litres of water.

-500 grams of soft white beans.

-1 big garlic clove 

-1/2 onion.

-salt and pepper

-some khale leaves (optional)

STEPS:

1. Fry up the bacon in slices in a pot and set aside.

2. In the same pot, don't scrub it!!! sautee the onion and garlic until traslucent.

3. Now fill up with water and add the potatoes that you have previously diced (no need to peel just clean them well).

4. Bring to a boil and simmer everything until potatoes soften. 

5. Now add the beans and bring again to boil.

6. Now turn it down and puree with hand blender, it will be thick but also beautifully coloured.

6. Now let it cool and season with salt and pepper (or you can also add some vegetable stock with no water.

7. Now add bacon on top, and also you can add some crispy khale on top (which is so good but takes some work).

8. The way you do khale crispy is simple: wash it, dry it and coat well with olive oil and salt and place in oven for about 15 minutes....watch it! cause it can burn fast.

So so good you all, a great way to eat beans. Taste amazing. This one is a keeper for fall. This picture is in the highlands in Scotland.