Method

A brief word about salt: There are a lot of salty elements in this soup, so you definitely don't want to add any extra salt until you taste it at the very end of cooking. You can control the salt a bit easier by using sodium-reduced bacon and chicken broth and by rinsing the beans really well. Then taste at the end and add only as much salt as you think the soup needs.

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Cook the bacon until almost crisp in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, red pepper and carrot to the pot and cook, stirring until the onions are tender. Add the broth, the beans and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil then immediately reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove and discard the bay leaf. Add the tomato sauce and the sugar to the soup. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary (add more salt/pepper/sugar/tomato paste, to taste). If you'd like a thicker soup, make a slurry of 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch with enough water to make a paste. Add to soup. Cook over medium heat, stirring until soup thickens. Repeat to thicken more if you'd like. Add a splash of heavy cream or half and half if you'd like it a wee bit creamier (not much is needed, just a splash) Finally, if you like, you could use a potato masher or immersion blender to gently smash a few of the beans (not all, just some), to add some texture to the broth.