Boo-yea Bean Soup!

Hey Laurie,

Cooking all my favorite winter comfort foods...even though today felt more like spring than January 17th.  No matter, comfort food is comfort food...comforting.  And I think this bean soup is super comforting.  Really warms the soul on these globally warmed days. 
I first came across this recipe in Food and Wine magazine a few years back.  The original recipe called for pink beans...I never ever can find those so I decided to use cannellini beans instead.  Also, I made a couple other tweaks here and there to make it more my style.  My favorite part of this soup is the croutons I make from corn bread muffins tossed in bacon grease.  Yummy!

Ingredients:

6-7 pieces of bacon, chopped
1/2 of a large, sweet onion, chopped
2-3 gloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon maple syrup (real stuff Laurie - don't you dare use the fake stuff)
2 cans of cannellini beans with liquid
3 cups of chicken stock
salt
pepper

Optional: hot sauce (Nate and I use this in our individual bowls to spice it up but keep the big batch mild enough for the kiddos)

(Look - not too many ingredients up there....you should make this!)

To prepare:

Put chopped bacon in heavy saucepan (like your blue one) and cook on medium-high heat until fat is rendered and bacon is crispy.  Take the bacon out and set aside.  Drain off all but two-ish tablespoons of bacon grease.  (Save the excess for the croutons)

Put chopped onions and garlic in pan (season with salt and pepper) and cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes or so.  Add tomato paste and maple syrup and cook until tomato paste has melted into onions and garlic.  Add beans with liquid and cook until thick and bubbly.  Add chicken stock and cooked bacon.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Croutons:
Jiffy corn bread muffin mix - prepare according to box and cool.  (I make mini muffins)
Half the mini muffins (or quarter big ones) and toss with a couple tablespoons of bacon grease (or I guess if you want to be healthy you could use olive oil).  Cook in 400 degree oven until crispy - 7 to 8 minutes.

Top soup with yummy croutons and enjoy yo!