Ham and Bean Soup

I grew up with my mom making what she called "Bean Soup".  We had pinto bean soup, great northern bean soup, navy bean soup...lots of bean soup.  And we loved it!

So I woke up Sunday to a very cold and wet Southern California day and thought, hmmmm...bean soup!

So MGG was coming over for dinner later that day and he loves soup.  He is a soupaholic...but not quite used to the southern bean soup my mom always made.  So I switched it up a little by making a more brothy bean soup.  Sort of like a Minestrone flavor with beans and ham!  A good southern favorite. 

You'll need to get yourself one of those bags of 15 bean soup mix. An onion, chicken broth, bacon, or a ham hock, a can diced tomatoes, italian seasoning, and a bay leaf.

Here's how you make it:

Put about 1/2 the bag of beans in a colander and sort and rinse, pulling out any broken or ugly looking beans.  Throw the seasoning packet away.
 

In a dutch oven or large soup pot add beans, bacon or ham hock (I used bacon cause that's what I had, but ham hock is really better at flavoring the soup).  Add about 4 cups of chicken broth and enough water to cover the beans by about 2 inches.

Place on the sotve and bring to a boil.  I add pepper at this point, as I layer the seasonings.
(sorry for the steamy photo!)

Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 2-3 hours.  You don't want to let the broth all boil away, but if it does, just add more water to keep the bean covered and turn the fire down a little.

Make sure to stir the beans during this time which will allow some starch to deevelop in the broth.

Add onions, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, and more pepper (salt if needed).  Simmer, stirring occasionally, for another hour.

Fish out the bacon and/or ham hock, bay leaf and toss.  Add tomatoes and simmer another 1/2 hr. then add chopped ham (I used left over ham from a baked ham I made the other night) and simmer until heated through.

Enjoy!

Ham and Bean Soup

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

½  (20-ounce) bag 15 bean soup

1 (32-ounce) cartons chicken broth

Water

3-4 bacon slices or 1 ham hock
½ medium onion chopped
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf

salt

black pepper
1 14.5-oz can of diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped cooked ham
 

Directions

1. Sort and rinse dried beans pulling out any broken or ugly looking beans.  Through seasoning packet away.   In a dutch oven or stock pot add beans, bacon/ham hock, broth and water to cover 2 inches above beans.
2. Add black pepper.  Bring pot to a boil.  Turn down to a slow simmer and cook for about 2 -3 hours.
3. Make sure not to boil away all the water/broth mixture.  If you do lose some add more water to keep bean well covered.  
4. Add onions, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, and more pepper.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, for another hour.  Fish out the bacon and/or ham hock, bay leaf and toss.  Add tomatoes and simmer another ½ hour then add chopped ham simmer until heated through.