White Bean Soup with Ham

By lovemygolden

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups dried navy beans
• 3 slices bacon, diced
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 carrots, diced
• 1 teaspoon dried onion flakes
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• Dash red pepper flakes
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 large ham bone or 2 smoked pork hocks
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• small bunch fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Preparation

Step 1

Sort and wash navy beans and place in large pot. Cover with minimum 2 inches of water, bring to a boil and boil hard for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover pot and let sit for 1 hour. Drain beans and set aside.

In large pot cook bacon over low heat until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp. Remove bacon from pan and set aside, leaving grease in pot. Add red pepper, onion, garlic, carrots, onion flakes, garlic powder, black pepper and pepper flakes. Cook until vegetables are soft.

Add beans back into pot along ham bone. Add chicken stock enough to cover all ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for one hour until beans are just tender. Remove 2 to 3 cups of beans from pot and puree along with a little liquid in a food processor.

Return pureed beans to soup pot. Add fresh rosemary, thyme and bay leaf and cook for additional half hour, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove ham bone from pot, and pick meat off. Return meat to pot along with reserved cooked bacon. Add chopped parsley just before serving. Taste for seasoning and add more pepper as required.

Makes 8 to 10 servings. Download White Bean Soup with Ham