Black Bean Soup#1

This is a serious batch of black bean soup. Dried beans soaked overnight, simmered for hours with bacon, diced ham, brown rice, and a mountain of aromatics (eight onions, seven garlic cloves, seven stalks of celery), then blended smooth and finished with sherry and white wine.

The bacon and ham build a smoky, meaty backbone that you can’t replicate with vegetable stock alone. Cooking them with the vegetables before the beans go in renders the fat and infuses the base with flavor from the start.

Brown rice pulls double duty here. It adds body to the soup and thickens it naturally once everything gets blended. Combined with the pureed beans, the result is a velvety texture with real substance.

After blending, the soup returns to the pot for a long, gentle reheat with sherry and white wine stirred in. That low simmer lets the alcohol cook off while the wine’s acidity brightens the deep, earthy flavor of the beans.

Pro Tips

• Soak the beans overnight and rinse well before cooking to reduce cooking time and improve digestibility
• Blend in batches and vent the blender lid to avoid hot soup erupting
• The cumin and cayenne build slowly during the long simmer, so taste before adding more at the end
• This soup freezes beautifully, so portion extras into containers before adding the sherry

Variations

• Garnish with sour cream, diced onion, and a squeeze of lime
• Add smoked turkey legs instead of ham for a different smoky flavor
• Leave half the soup unblended for a chunky-smooth texture