Friday, January 4, 2013

Ham and Bean Soup



Perfect for cold weather, bean soups are a great way to use up a leftover ham bone. I cooked my ham in the crock pot. Feel free to use any leftover meat in your soup. The other thing I used in my soup was all the liquid from the bottom of the crock pot. Just stir into the soup at the same time as the onion and carrots.

1 lb dry white beans
1 leftover ham bone
12 c. water
24 oz. tomato sauce

1 large onion, chopped
4 large carrots, grated
3/4 c. half-an-half
2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco (optional)

Soak the white beans overnight, changing the water at least once. 

Drain the beans again and cover with water. Simmer for 2 hours until the beans are starting to soften up. Drain the liquid. Add the 12 cups of water, ham bone, tomato sauce, and vegetable stock pod. 

Simmer for 4 hours.

Remove the ham bone. Shred any meat from the bone and return it to the pot. Add the onion, carrot, garlic and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the half-an-half and simmer until heated through.