Potato, White Bean and Red Pepper Soup

1/4 to 1/2 lb. hickory-cured slab bacon, diced
**See note below, under pictures, if you prefer to not use bacon
1 T butter
1 onion
1 large or 2 smaller carrots
1 rib celery
8 - 10 small cans chicken broth
(We like very brothy soup. You can use less broth, if you'd like)
S&P
2 large leeks, washed and sliced into 1/2-inch circles
2 large potatoes, cubed
1 large red bell pepper diced
10.5 oz. can Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
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This is a weekend meal because it does require a bit longer to cook.

Put diced bacon into large stock pot and crisp up. Remove cooked bacon to drain on paper towel and remove all but about a tablespoon of bacon fat from pot. Add tablespoon butter to the bacon fat. Once butter is melted, add chopped celery, onions and carrots. Saute for about 5 minutes.

Add potato and leeks. Stir up into other veggies.

Add the chicken broth and reserved cooked bacon. Bring to boil.

Lower heat to simmer and add in the bell pepper and rinsed beans. Put on the lid, adjusted to allow steam to escape and let simmer gently for at least an hour.

It may seem like a lot of ingredients, but it's not really. Most of them are basic soup ingredients.

Slice up the bacon. I use 1/2 pound. It's the only meat in the recipe. **If you don't want to use bacon, just saute your veggies in vegetable oil and add a teaspoon of hickory smoke flavoring to the broth. The smoky flavor the bacon imparts is important to the soup's broth in the end.

Brown your bacon in the pot. 

While the bacon is cooking... this is the perfect time to prepare your celery, onions and carrots. Slice and dice time.

Bacon is cooking, I've finished slicing veggies. 

This looks like a little less than 1/2 cup of fat.

I spooned out the fat and it's not quite 1/2 cup. I left about a tablespoon or so in the pot.

Remove cooked bacon to drain.

Add the tablespoon of butter to the pot.  

Add prepared veggies to the pot. Carrots, onions and celery at this point. 

Saute for 5 minutes while you cut up the potatoes.

Add the potato cubes.

Add the leeks now. I keep mine cleaned and sliced in the freezer, 

so I just pour some into the pot now. No need to thaw.

Add back the cooked bacon.

Add the broth. I used 10 small cans of broth. You could get by with 5 or 6 if you wanted the end product to be more stew-like. George prefers soupy soup. I always add lots of broth.

A healthy grinding of pepper. Don't add salt until later, if at all. With store bought broth, you probably don't need any additional salt. Bring soup to a boil.

Rinse the beans well after you drain the can juice.

Rinse with cold water.

Bring to boil. Stir down and lower heat to simmer.

Add red peppers...

Add beans.... I was trying to catch a picture of the beans spilling into the pot and ZOOOOOP! They all slid in in a blink! Believe me, they are in there! LOL!

Once it starts to simmer, put the lid on and set to allow steam to escape. If your lid doesn't do this, just set it slightly askew so it won't boil over. At this point, I've been in the kitchen for 55 minutes. Now, it's just simmering time. Sunday is a good day for this. Get it on to cook and then enjoy the smell in the house while it cooks. I'm giving it about 2 hours before dinner. I'll post the last picture as I'm serving... I'll be starting the Foccacia in a bit.

2.5 hours of simmering after I put on the lid. I stirred it once an hour. Nothing more.

Can't you practically taste it? This is the kind of meal that warms your soul on a cold winter's day. Steamed up windows in the kitchen... Hot bread in the oven... Everyone asking "When will dinner be done?" :)

Come and eat! Dinner is on the table! Hot steamy soup and hot fresh bread! It makes you feel warmer just looking at it!