Ham, White Bean and Tomato Soup

Hey Jude's Note:

I found this while searching for recipes to use up leftover ham, and it's 'after-work friendly' as well. This goes well with a green salad and breadsticks

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 slices bacon
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (10 ounce) bag baby spinach, sliced into thin slices
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (28 ounce) can white beans, drained
• 3/4 cup chopped cooked ham
• 5 sage leaves, minced
• 5 sprigs minced thyme
• 5 sprigs minced parsley

Directions:

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until just crisp, turning several times, about 4 minutes; remove bacon, crumble and set aside.
2. Add onion and celery to skillet; cook until softened, about 5 minutes; stir in garlic, cook 1 minute; stir in spinach, cook until wilted, about 2 minutes.
3. Season with red pepper flakes, allspice, salt and black pepper; add chicken broth, tomatoes, beans, ham, sage, thyme and parsley; cook until flavors blend about 20 minutes.

Reviews

[French Tart]

Fantastic! A great full bodied soup with lots of my 5-a-Day in it! I made this as posted and was rewarded with a hearty bean soup with layers and layers of flavour. We ate this with home-made bread and had seconds on a cold and windy day! Made for the Cool Beans event in the Photo's Forum and VERY much enjoyed! FT:-)

[akgrown]

This was very yummy! I love all kinds of bean soup but my husband doesn't and he liked this and even ate the leftovers. I didn't have sage or parsley so I just left them out. I had some fresh tomatoes that needed to be used so I chopped and roasted them and threw them in instead of canned tomatoes. Very good!

[ms_bold]

Yum! This soup has an awesome flavor and is soooo easy to prepare. I didn't add the allspice, because I didn't seem to have any on hand. However, I followed the rest of the recipe exactly with the addition of rinsing and draining the beans before adding them to the soup. I love the spinach/bean/ham combo. The bacon also adds a depth of smokey flavor that really makes the soup. I gobbled it up with a chunk of crusty bread and a big glass of milk. Mmmm. Comfort food!!