Ruth's White Bean and Ham Soup

HokiesMom's Note:

Very close to my mom's ham and bean soup. *Update 2/5/08* My mom called and said she never used a bay leaf in her soup so if I'm going to keep her name on this recipe I need to remove the bay leaf :-) -- I always listen to my mom (well at least now!)

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 (15 1/2 ounce) cans great northern beans (rinsed & drained)
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups cooked ham, cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Directions:

1. Mash one can of beans and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, saute the carrots and onions in butter.
3. Stir in the water, ham, seasonings and whole and mashed beans and cook over medium heat until heated through.

Reviews

[Jesi_Mouse]

I was looking for a soup recipe to use up some leftover ham and happened upon this one. My husband made the soup and it was absolutely delicious! He added an extra can of beans and an extra 1/2 cup of water to make it go further. Good thing, because we bickered over who would take the leftovers for lunch the next day!

[CJ #6]

Great soup. I made very few changes. I sauteed the veggies in olive oil instead of butter. I put in 3 fresh garlic cloves in at the end of the sauteing. I used fat free low sodium chicken broth instead of the water. After all was cooking and before I put in the ham, I used an immersion blender to blend some of the beans instead of mashing them. The I let it simmer for an hour. YUMMM

[Marg (CaymanDesigns)]

Excellent soup! Everyone asked me to make it again. I only made a few minor changes. Instead of dicing the carrots, I ran them through my salad shooter using the wavy cut blade. Then I sauteed them and the onion in a little bit of olive oil. Afterward, I placed all the ingredients in my crock-pot and placed it in the refrigerator overnight. On Sunday morning, I set the crock-pot on low, so we came home to a lovely lunch of hot soup and Recipe #79800. This was a tasty way to use up the leftover ham from New Year's, but I'm sure it will be just as good when I use a ham steak in it. We all liked how the broth was nice and thick because of the mashed beans. Next time I'll probably add one more can of beans just to stretch the soup a bit more. Thanks for posting, Melissa! UPDATE: if you are in a hurry, canned carrots work beautifully too!