Hearty White Bean Stew with Bacon

When I stumbled onto this stew recipe it actually had “cozy” in the recipe title. Well I don’t know about you, but a recipe that has the word cozy right there staring at you when it’s bleak and dreary outside is begging to be made. So I made it and I totally didn’t regret it. It’s as cozy as the title claims it to be. A perfect warm and hearty stew recipe.

Ingredients

1 pound bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (I used my DIY Italian Seasoning Mix Recipe}
Salt and pepper to taste
4 {15 oz} cans small white beans, drained and rinsed {can sub navy beans}
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon dried parsley

Directions

Heat a heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once hot, cook the bacon until brown. Remove the bacon and set aside on paper towels to drain and cool.

Reserve about 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease, and add the olive oil and butter to it over medium-high heat until they are all melted together. Add in the onion and carrots, and saute for about 4-5 minutes or until soft. Add in the garlic, and saute for a few minutes, then add in about 2/3 of the cooked bacon, plus the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and white beans, and broth and stir until combined.

Gently simmer, partially covered, for about 40-45 minutes. About halfway through the cooking process, use a potato masher to mash the stew a bit {totally depends on how thing you want the stew to be}. Top with remaining bacon. Enjoy!