Heartwarming White Bean and Smoked Ham Soup
This heartwarming soup is so flavorful with the stewing of the cannellini beans, vegetables, and smoked pork hock. With the lengthy cooking time, this soup releases an aroma that fills the house with the smell of fall and winter harvests. This stew is incredibly rich in flavor but paradoxically low in fat—only laden with 2 T. of oil. So, serve your loved ones this heartwarming white bean and smoked ham soup with no guilt!
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried cannellini beans
- I large yellow onion
- 2 cups carrot (about 5 medium carrots)
- 2 cups celery (about 3 celery stalks)
- 1 ½ cups potato (1 large Yukon potato)
- 2 cups hickory-smoked ham
- 1 ½ lb. fully cooked, smoked pork hock
- 8 cups vegetable broth (see my Better than Boxed Vegetable Broth recipe under Soups)
- 2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
- ¾ t. dried thyme
- 3-4 bay leaves
- Pinch of sea salt
Directions
- Step 1 The day before, make my homemade vegetable broth, Better than Boxed Vegetable Broth (see my post in soups). This step is optional and can be substituted with store-bought broth. But if you try my broth, I suggest you make it the day before to break up the cooking process. Still, it can be made the day of as well.
- Step 2 The night before, soak the beans, adding them to a medium saucepan and covering them with 3-4” of water. Drain the water the next day.
- Step 3 The day of, remove the outer skin off the onion and quarter it, placing the pieces into the basin of a food processor—if you have the luxury of having one. Pulse until diced or chop by hand, scraping the contents into a large mixing bowl. Next, wash the celery and cut into 2″ chunks. Toss it into the food processor and pulse until diced or chop by hand. Fold with the onion in the mixing bowl. Then, wash and peel any non-organic carrots, slicing them in half lengthwise and chopping them in half-moon slices. Fold in with the celery and onion in the mixing bowl. Lastly, wash and peel the potato, either dicing by hand or using a food processor. Add to the mixing bowl.
- Step 4 Next, heat 2 T. of olive oil in a 12″ nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes or until the oil is glistening. Add the contents of the mixing bowl (the onion, carrot, celery, and potato) to the skillet and sauté for 8-10 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Set aside and remove from the heat. Also, while the veggies are cooking, you can dice the ham and reserve it in a separate mixing bowl.
- Step 5 Finally, pour the broth into an 6-7-qt stockpot and turn up to high heat. Fold in the cannellini beans, 1 cup of the ham, sautéed veggies, hock, bay leaves, and thyme. Next, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for about 55 minutes or just before the white beans start to break down and dissolve. Be sure to stir occasionally during the cooking time, so the contents don’t stick to the bottom. Add the rest of the ham. This soup will thicken by close to an hour, so serve when it’s hot. Note: see the photo above for a snapshot of the soup being cooked. Enjoy!
This heartwarming soup is exceptionally rich in flavor but unbelievably low in fat, as it derives its full body from the stewing of cannellini beans, smoked pork hock, and homemade vegetable broth. Its aroma will fill your home and whet your family’s appetite, making them salivate!
Nutritional Information: serving size: 679 g or 2.8 cups, servings per recipe: 6, calories: 386, total fat: 6.72 g., saturated fat: 1.36 g., cholesterol: 11 g., sodium: 2057 mg., total carbohydrate: 58.65 g., dietary fiber: 15.3 g., total sugars: 6.2 g., protein: 25.42 g., calcium: 162 mg., iron: 4.66 mg., potassium: 1177 mg., magnesium: 112 mg., vitamin D: 2 IU, vitamin C: 15.3 mg., vitamin B-1: 0.56 mg., folate: 212 µg.