ham it up. [hearty ham & 15 bean soup]
Although this ham and bean soup recipe has been in my family for years, I’ve never made it before – I’ve always left that part up to my mom or grandma. While visiting home, my mom pulled a gorgeous honey baked ham out of the fridge. Almost immediately, I decided that I wanted to make use of the ham bone, and what better way to do that than make this extremely simple, yet hearty, healthy and delicious soup. I would even call it a stoop.
I’m always tricked into thinking this soup is unhealthy, because of its thickness and heartiness; however, there’s not one ingredient in this recipe that’s unhealthy – beans, ham carrots, onions.
Even though this isn’t the ideal summer dish, it’s made for the perfect meal this week with the start of California’s June gloom.
- ½ spiral sliced Honey Baked Ham (8-10 lbs.), bone-in, plus seasoning packet
- 1 bag (16 oz.) 15 bean mix
- 1 medium sweet onion, finely diced
- 3-4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Diced bacon for garnish, if desired
- Rinse beans in colander. Place beans in large pot and cover completely with water, then place over high heat on stove. Bring beans to a boil, then remove from heat. Let rest for one hour.
- Strain beans through colander and rinse with cold water.
- Place ham bone (majority of meat removed) in large pot, then add rinsed beans and seasoning packet. Cover completely with water; pot should be about ¾ full of water. Add diced carrots and onion.
- Cook mixture on medium to medium-high heat for 3-4 hours, stirring frequently so beans on the bottom do not burn.
- Once mixture begins to thicken, approximately after 2 hours into cooking, add sliced ham.
- Season with salt and pepper. Cook until soup reaches desired thickness.
