Creamy White Bean Soup With Rosemary & Pancetta

There’s just something about this time of year that calls for a nice stew or soup for dinner. It’s not cold here in Fort Lauderdale, but I think my brain doesn’t know the difference. Maybe it’s constantly running the air conditioner that tricks me into thinking it’s cold? Nah! Still, I want soup, and this Creamy White Bean Soup With Rosemary & Pancetta sounds irresistible. Plus, I don’t think I have ever cooked with pancetta, bacon’s unsmoked cousin, so I’m excited to give this recipe a try.

A Tuscan inspired soup hearty enough to be a main course.

Recipe Author: Deborah Mele at Italian Food Forever
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The Ingredients

The ingredients for this Creamy White Bean Soup With Rosemary & Pancetta are on the long-ish side, but nothing was difficult to find. I only had a few of the spices on hand, so I had to shop for most everything. However, nothing was difficult to find at my regular grocery store.

Onions, carrots, celery, etc. are everyday items for me. The only thing I wasn’t familiar with was pancetta. I’ve heard of it, but I’m not sure if I have ever cooked with it. Fortunately, I found a 4-ounce package of diced pancetta for $5.99. It was just barely enough for this recipe, so nothing went to waste.

FYI, I went with canned cannellini beans instead of going to the trouble of soaking and cooking dried beans. I have my limits, and that’s one of them. Why add hours to a recipe if you don’t have to?

Finally, I had half a loaf of homemade French bread, so I skipped buying Italian bread at the store. They’re so similar, and I found my French bread worked perfectly for croutons.

Creamy White Bean Soup With Rosemary & Pancetta Ingredients
Cannellini beans, pancetta, French bread, garlic, chicken broth, rosemary, salt, chili flakes, pepper, carrots, celery, and onion

The Process

The first thing I noticed about this recipe was that it called for a stockpot. I have one, but I rarely use it. I prefer to make soup in a Dutch oven because it has shorter sides than a stockpot and that makes stirring and sauteeing easier. My stockpot is 8-quarts, so I was expecting a huge batch; however, I think my 5-quart Dutch oven would have worked (I’ll have to test the theory one of these days!).

Once the pot was sorted, I got started on my prep work. The pancetta was conveniently pre-diced, but the rest of the vegetables weren’t. No worries, though, because 14 minutes later, I had everything prepped and measured so I could get cooking.

The instructions were easy to follow, and I had a wonderful smelling soup simmering on my stove. That meant I was ready to get started on the croutons, so I grabbed a medium-sized skillet and got back to work.

The croutons were very simple and were done before the soup. I set them aside and a few minutes later the soup was ready to be pureed. I ladled half of it into a large mixing bowl and used an immersion blender to puree it. Then I returned it to the pot, gave it a good stir, and it was ready to serve up.

The total time spent on this recipe was 53 minutes, which was right in line with the 50 minutes listed.

Minced garlic with finely chopped carrots, celery, and onions
Diced garlic, carrots, celery, and onions

So how was it?

Clear & Accurate Directions
Accurate Time(s)
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This Creamy White Bean Soup With Rosemary & Pancetta is a true soup, with a thin broth and few solids. It's still hearty, and the crouton topping takes it from good to great. They're good when they're fresh and crunchy, and even better once they soak up some of the broth. Then it's almost like eating stuffing, and who doesn't like stuffing? Buying diced pancetta made making this recipe a bit easier, although I don't think it was very difficult. If you are comfortable chopping fresh vegetables and opening a couple of cans, then you can make this recipe too. Overall, a very tasty recipe that I'll be marking as a favorite and making again.
The Hungry Pinner
The Hungry Pinnerhttps://www.hungrypinner.com
I'm Candice, and I'm The Hungry Pinner. I created this blog to share my love for cooking and my experiences with the MANY recipes I've found on Pinterest over the years. Join me as I blog my way through those recipes to find out if they are worth trying yourself.

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This Creamy White Bean Soup With Rosemary & Pancetta is a true soup, with a thin broth and few solids. It's still hearty, and the crouton topping takes it from good to great. They're good when they're fresh and crunchy, and even better once they soak up some of the broth. Then it's almost like eating stuffing, and who doesn't like stuffing? Buying diced pancetta made making this recipe a bit easier, although I don't think it was very difficult. If you are comfortable chopping fresh vegetables and opening a couple of cans, then you can make this recipe too. Overall, a very tasty recipe that I'll be marking as a favorite and making again.Creamy White Bean Soup With Rosemary & Pancetta