DD loves tomato soup, so I tried this recipe for her. Served it with grilled cheese sandwiches made with homemade bread.
I basically followed the recipe, but added some basil and celery seed and changed the amounts a bit. Here’s my version.
Tomato, Bacon, and Bean Soup
1/4 pound bacon, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. dry onion (or 1 onion, diced)
2 c. potatoes, peeled and diced
2 28-oz. cans crushed tomatoes
2 15-oz. cans white beans, undrained
32 oz. chicken broth
1 T. brown sugar
1 tsp. dry basil
1 tsp. celery seed
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
I like to dice the bacon before cooking so I don’t have to crumble it later. I eye-balled the pound of bacon, cut off 1/4 of it, and diced that.
I like a one pan method, so I started with the stock pot.
Brown the diced bacon (and the onion, if using fresh) in the stock pot until the bacon is crisp. Drain off the grease. I remove the pot from the heat, tip it to pool the grease, scrape the bacon to one side, and use a wad of three or four paper towels to soak up the grease. If I had four arms, I’d have taken a picture for you, but I was cooking alone. So no picture of grease sopping.
Add the minced garlic and stir well. Don’t cook the garlic too long or it will leave a bitter flavor.
While the bacon cooked, I peeled and diced the potatoes.
Add the remaining ingredients, except the salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
Salt and pepper to taste. I added 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Next time, I think I’ll add a little less.
The original recipe called for blending a portion of the soup and returning that to the pot. I skipped that step. I like chunky soup. And it’s just one more thing to wash…
Delicious with crunchy toasted homemade bread. DD practically inhaled her bowl of soup. 
~~Rhonda
