Apple Bacon Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 white onion, chopped
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 medium apple, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup red wine
- salt and pepper to taste
- Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, coarsely chop, and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and saute white onion and garlic 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in beef stock, pinto beans, tomatoes, celery, and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir the apple in the red wine until soft.
- Mix bacon, apple, and remaining red wine into the soup mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until well blended.
I changed the recipe a little. First, I doubled it (the recipe says it feeds 8, but all of the reviews said it will only feed 4 or so). Instead of sauteing the onion and garlic in olive oil, I used the drippings from the bacon. And I sauteed the celery too. I used a can of pinto beans and a can of kidney beans (both undrained). And instead of the stewed tomatoes I used two cans of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano (no salt added). When I did the apples, I used one Red Gala apple and one Granny Smith. I cooked them in probably 1 1/4 cup of red cooking wine and about half a cup of apple juice. The cooking wine has a lot of salt in it already, so I used beef stock that had no added salt.
It was yummy. And the reviewers and one of my friends who took some of the leftovers said it's even better as leftovers! :)
