Creamy Bean & Pancetta Soup

Creamy Bean & Pancetta Soup, despite its name, doesn’t contain any cream. Instead, its smooth creaminess comes from pureed cannellini beans and a little potato simmered in stock and milk. Adding great depth of flavour are pancetta or smoked bacon, onion, celery, garlic and rosemary.

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The day I first made this dee-light-ful soup was definitely a soup kind of day. A drizzly, chilly Monday in October. Craving a bowl of something warm and comforting, it was really a spur of the moment thing. Based on the soup staples of onion, celery, garlic and a tin of beans, you might not expect much from it.

But wow! Creamy Bean & Pancetta Soup quickly became my current favourite soup and I’ve made it loads of times since.

CREAMY SOUP WITHOUT THE CREAM

I based the recipe on my really simple Creamy White Bean Soup. Despite its name, it doesn’t HAVE to have cream in it. The creaminess comes from cannellini beans which, along with onion, celery, garlic, rosemary and a small amount of potato, are cooked in a combination of stock and milk.

When everything’s soft, you just whizz it until it’s as smooth as you like. You can add a lick of cream at the end, but it isn’t necessary.

And you definitely don’t need to add cream to the wonderful variation I’m sharing with you today. That’s because richness and extra flavour come from a generous amount of pancetta or smoked bacon. Here there’s wonderful herby smoked pancetta I buy online from The Port of Lancaster Smokehouse.

But you can swap in any good quality smoked bacon. Streaky with its extra fat content will give the best results in terms of the taste and texture of Creamy Bean & Pancetta Soup.

CREAMY BEAN & PANCETTA SOUP

I start the soup by cooking diced pancetta in a little olive oil. The fat it releases is then used to soften the onion, celery, garlic and a little potato. This imbues the whole soup with nostril-quivering, smoky flavour and aroma.

Once rosemary, milk and stock are added, you can leave the soup to simmer for around ten minutes. Then go in with a stick blender and whizz until it’s as smooth as you like. While the soup bubbles away, I sizzle tiny bits of diced pancetta in olive oil until crispy. To serve, I scatter some of the crunchy, tempting little morsels over each bowl. I like a drizzle of the now-smoky olive oil too.

Lastly, sprinkle on a little extra rosemary and add a grind of black pepper.

This creamy, smoky soup really is top class comfort food. With barely fifteen minutes hands-on time Creamy Bean & Pancetta Soup is perfect for lunch on a chilly day. But, full of flavour and rich texture, I think it’s impressive enough to serve to guests as a first course.

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Creamy Bean & Pancetta Soup

A creamy tasting soup that doesn't contain cream.

Superb comfort food served with crispy pancetta or smoked bacon plus pancetta oil and fresh rosemary.

The recipe makes a thickish soup: add more stock or milk if you prefer it thinner.

Course Soup, Main Course, Lunch

Cuisine European

Keyword comfort food, bacon soup

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 2 - 3

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 100 g pancetta (or smoked bacon, preferably streaky) roughly chopped
• 1 large onion roughly chopped
• 2 sticks celery finely chopped
• 3 large cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 medium potato diced small
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tin cannellini beans, drained approximately 240g cooked beans
• 250 ml milk
• 250 ml chicken stock

For the garnish

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 20 g pancetta or smoked bacon finely chopped
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped

Instructions

1. Put the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the roughly chopped pancetta or smoked bacon.

   Cook until most of the fat has melted and the pancetta's starting to colour.

2. Add the onion, celery, garlic, and season with a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are starting to soften and colour.

3. Add the potato, chopped rosemary and season with a little more salt and pepper. Stir well and cook for a further minute.

   Stir in the beans, milk and stock.

4. Bring to the boil (putting a lid on will speed this up but be careful it doesn't boil over) then immediately turn the heat to low and simmer with the lid on until the vegetables are very soft.

5. While the soup is simmering

   Put a small pan over medium heat and add the oil and pancetta or bacon for the garnish. Cook until the pancetta/bacon is crispy then set aside.

6. Off the heat, use a stick blender to puree some or all of the soup, depending on whether you want a smoother or chunkier consistency.

   Tip: Add a little more stock or milk if you want a thinner soup.

   Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

7. Serve the soup garnished with the fried pancetta, drizzle over the cooking oil and sprinkle with the chopped rosemary.

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