White Bean Soup

This soup is comfort in a bowl. I love to soak the beans on a Friday night and make this on Saturday afternoon. It is perfect for game day or any day. This is a huge batch, I believe it made 6 quarts, so be sure to grab your biggest soup pot- or you could easily cut the recipe in half.

Dry beans are very economical. This 2lb bag was $2.49 and most of the ingredients are pantry staples. There is a lot of chicken stock in the soup and I had no homemade stock in my freezer, but I hit the jackpot at the grocery store today-it was BOGO. Don't ask how many I bought....Thanksgiving is coming up. Total, I am sure I have less than $20 in this pot of soup that will feed a small army.

The trick to dried beans is the overnight soak. I use this method and not only does it result in a soft, buttery bean, it also takes some of the "bean after effects" out of the beans. I always keep several types of dried beans in my pantry- pintos, great northern, navy, etc.

There is one rule to dried beans- don't salt them until they are softened. If you salt them too soon, you will have to cook them much longer to get the soft, buttery effect.

I like to serve this with my Memaw Young's Cornbread.

Make this recipe your own. Add cayenne pepper or jalapenos for heat. Make a Mediterranean version by adding oregano and fresh lemon juice. Make a vegetarian version by removing the ham and substituting vegetable stock for chicken stock. Top with a hot sauce for a dash of spicy, vinegary goodness.

Courses: Mains, Soups

Description

Rich and buttery white bean soup is comfort in a bowl and will feed a large crowd. Serve with cornbread and sweet iced tea.

Ingredients

2 lbs dry white beans, I used Great Northern, Navy would work well too.
10 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups diced ham or smoked sausage
1 -2 heads of garlic, chopped
3 celery stacks, diced
4 -5 potatoes, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 -2 onions, diced
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1
Soak the dry beans in water overnight.
2
Rinse and set aside.
3
In a soup pot, add olive oil and diced ham. Cook on medium heat until the ham begins to brown.
4
Toss in the onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, thyme, celery salt and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.
5
Add potatoes, beans, chicken stock and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer.
6
Cover and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add additional chicken stock if needed.
7
When beans have softened, usually about an hour of cooking, add salt. Add freshly ground pepper right before serving.