Soup, Ham and Bean

By Maudie30

Ingredients

• 8 cups water
• 1 pound Great Northern beans (or navy beans) or mixed beans
• 2 cups diced cooked ham
• Optional: 1 ham bone (or ham hock)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 or 2 ribs celery, chopped or sliced thinly
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 180mins
Adapted from thespruceeats.com

Preparation

Step 1

Bring the water and beans to a boil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven; boil for 2 minutes. Remove the beans from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.

Add the ham, ham bone, or hock to the beans, along with onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beans are tender (skim foam from top), about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If soup is too thick, add a little more water.

If you used a ham bone or ham hocks, take them out of the soup and remove the meat. Dice or shred the meat and return it to the soup.

Add the tomato sauce and salt, to taste; simmer for about 15 minutes longer. Remove the bay leaf.

Tips:
If you soak the beans overnight, use 8 cups of water and skip the first step of boiling the beans and letting them stand for an hour.

Recipe Variations:
For some extra texture and flavor, add 1 can of diced tomatoes to the soup along with the tomato sauce.
For extra color, add a cup of corn kernels to the soup shortly before it is ready.
Add 1/2 cup of multicolored chopped bell peppers along with the onions.