Each fall it’s a contest between mother nature and I, to see when I turn on the furnace for the winter season…I lost yesterday.  Why this has become an annual challenge escapes me.  But last night I was huddled under an afghan with flannel socks and sweater,  enjoying re-runs of History2 Channel’s “Ancient Aliens” and thinking ‘why am I shivering?’  So I surrendered and turned on my furnace… conceding to mother nature that she’s won again…bring on the winter!

Although toasty today, a hearty hot pot of soup would taste so downhome right about now.

With ham bone in hand, and fresh kale from the market, a hearty, fragrant tuscan bean soup is begging to be created… to fight off those autumn chills.  Because I like to control how soft my cannellini beans are, I choose to soak dried beans overnight in cold water to cover.  Then I bake them at a low 250 degree oven, so as not to agitate them overly much, turning them into mush.  Finally, my secret ingredient is the addition of Rotel tomatoes.  Ordinary Tuscan Bean Soup calls for diced tomatoes, however I find the Rotel tomatoes adds just the right amount of hotness without having to add red pepper flakes.  Adding the tomatoes toward the end of the cooking prevents their acidity from interfering with the tenderness of the beans, as any of you who have attempted to make Boston Baked Beans have already discovered.

TUSCAN STYLE BEAN & HAM SOUP

 Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried cannellini beans, rinse then toss any damaged beans out
• 1 tsp olive oil (to help the rendering of the bacon fat)
• 4 slices Applegate Farms Organic bacon, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 4 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
• trimmed bones from a leftover baked ham
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 quart water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 bunch fresh kale, stems trimmed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 10 oz can Rotel tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• salt & pepper to taste (when using ham, I never need added salt)

In a large bowl, combine beans in 4 quarts cold water.  Soak beans at room temperature for 8-24 hours.  Then drain and rinse.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees, with rack in lower position to fit soup pot.

Heat olive oil in 8 quart soup pot and add diced bacon.  Render on medium heat until bacon is crisp.

Add onions, celery and carrots.  Soften veggies for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add garlic and allow to heat up until you can smell the garlic fragrance, about 1 minute.  Stir in the stock, water and beans along with the bay leaves, herbs and a few grindings of pepper. Nestle the ham bones in the pot.  Now bring the pot to a boil, then cover and place in the hot oven for 1 hour.

Remove soup from the oven and stir in the kale and tomatoes.

Replace the pot back into the oven for 40 minutes longer, to tenderize the kale.

Discard the bay leaves and ham bones, and correct seasonings to taste.  If you like your bean soup a little creamier, mash some of the tender beans against the side of the pot.  Add diced ham from a leftover roast.

Serve with bruschetta.

I freeze individual servings of this hearty soup, and just grab one from the freezer on my way to work.  If you leave it out on your breakroom counter for the morning, it’ll be thawed by lunch time and you can heat it up.  Or move the frozen soup from your freezer to the refrigerator the night before, to thaw.