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. In my family, we have two cornbread recipes: Memaw Young’s Cornbread and Nannie Logan’s Cornbread. They are vastly different…and I already see the title of my next blog.
White Bean Soup
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
Directions
Soak the dry beans in water overnight. Rinse and set aside. In a soup pot, add olive oil and diced ham. Cook on medium heat until the ham begins to brown. Toss in the onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, thyme, celery salt and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. Add potatoes, beans, chicken stock and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Cover and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add additional chicken stock if needed. When beans have softened, usually about an hour of cooking, add salt. Add freshly ground pepper right before serving.
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.
