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Smoky Bean and Bacon Soup With Kale Pesto

Smoked Real Salt is an easy and healthy way to add a touch of smoky flavor to any dish. It’s one of the ingredients that gives this bean and bacon soup its deep, hearty warmth. The vibrant green kale pesto adds a beautiful contrast, brightening up this rustic, nourishing soup that’ll carry you through the last chilly days of winter and into spring.

Ingredients:

For the Soup:

  • 12 oz. thick-cut bacon, cut into chunks

  • 1 Tbsp. butter

  • 1 Tbsp. reserved bacon fat

  • 3 leeks, split down the middle, rinsed, and cut into chunks (or substitute yellow onions)

  • 3 cloves garlic, sliced

  • 1 tsp. Real Salt Organic Garlic Salt

  • 1 tsp. Real Salt Organic Onion Salt

  • 1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper

  • 3 cans white beans, drained and rinsed

  • 1.5 qt. chicken bone broth

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 1/2 small green cabbage (or 1/4 large cabbage), cored and cut into big chunks

  • 1/4 tsp. Smoked Real Salt (we used the Chef’s Blend) and more to garnish

For the Kale Pesto:

  • 2 cups kale, stems removed and roughly chopped

  • 1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

  • 1 clove garlic, minced

  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

  • 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 small lemons)

  • Real Salt Kosher Salt, to taste

  • Cracked black pepper, to taste

For Garnish:

Instructions:

  1. In a heavy pot over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp and lightly browned.

  2. Remove bacon and set aside. Pour off bacon grease, reserving 1 Tbsp. for the soup.

  3. Add reserved bacon fat and butter to the pot. Add leeks and sauté over medium heat until lightly caramelized.

  4. Stir in garlic, Real Salt Garlic Salt, Real Salt Onion Salt, and black pepper. Sauté for 1-2 minutes.

  5. Add white beans, chicken bone broth, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.

  6. Add chopped cabbage and simmer for 15 minutes until wilted.

  7. Finish with 1/4 tsp. Smoked Real Salt, or adjust to taste.

For the Kale Pesto:

  1. Toast pine nuts in a dry pan over low heat, shaking the pan until golden brown. Remove from heat.

  2. In a food processor, combine kale, toasted pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic, and lemon juice. Pulse until finely chopped.

  3. With the processor running, drizzle in olive oil and blend until smooth.

  4. Taste and season with Real Salt Kosher Salt and black pepper to your liking.

To Serve:

Ladle soup into bowls, and top with a spoonful of kale pesto, a sprinkle of Parmesan, and a finishing touch of Smoked Real Salt. Serve with buttered sourdough bread and enjoy!

Smokey Bacon


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Comments (2)

Maggie S

This recipe looks good. Sadly, I need to go grocery shopping for most of the soup ingredients.

The Kale Pesto looked intriguing. I had the ingredients to make the Kale Pesto and followed the recipe. Very tasty! I did make one substitution: Avocado oil for Olive oil.

Now, I needed something to eat with the pesto. I had leftover baked Wild Alaskan Cod from lunch the day before. I decided to make a pasta dish. I cooked the pasta of my choice. For the pasta sauce, I used a small carrot, about 6 inches in length, (15 cm) and as big around as an index finger; small diced. I set the carrots to cook in 1 quart sauce pan with a little water and a couple of shakes of Real Kosher Salt. I chopped 4 small mushrooms that were dried to a leathery consistency I like. One Tablespoon of butter went into the carrot water (maybe 2 Tablespoons of water remained after cooking the carrots) and melted. The mushrooms went in next and cooked for 2 to 3 minutes. Two scant Tablespoons of flour were then added to the sauce pan and stirred until thickened and bubbly. One scant Cup of half and half, close to room temperature, was stirred into the mix in the sauce pan and whisked until thickened. About one-half Cup of flaked Alaskan Cod was then stirred into the sauce and brought to low simmer. Real Salt Organic Lemon-Pepper was added to taste. The cooked pasta was placed in my favorite pasta bowl. The sauce was poured over the pasta. Kale Pesto was gently forked over the top. A very beautiful dish and tasty, too! The orange of the carrot and the eye-popping green of the Kale Pesto were beautiful together with the white of the fish and the dark brown mushrooms.

I plan to make the soup next week when I have ingredients and more time.

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Redmond Life replied:
Thanks for the cooking tips, Maggie. We’re glad you’re enjoying the recipes, and we hope they continue to be helpful.

Kristin

Love your products, use no other salt! I save the recipes, I’ve had a stroke and don’t function well in the kitchen, hoping that ortho and physical therapies will fix that soon! Thanks for everything! God bless
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Redmond Life replied:
Thank you so much for your kind words and for choosing Real Salt. We truly appreciate you!