About Me

Saturday, April 28, 2012

My Go To Soup - White Bean Vegetable Soup with Ham

If you are looking for a quick and easy soup recipe, this is it!This is the soup I swear by when I:

Need a cup of serious comfort
Need a pick me up
Need something that will stick to me through the evening
Need something to keep me warm

Like your Grandma's soup, this one is hearty and full of flavor, better yet, it is easy to make!


White Bean Vegetable Soup with Ham
makes 10 bowls


1 bunch of Kale
5 carrots
1 head of broccoli
2 Potatoes
1 Onion
3 celery stalks
1 leek
Leftover Ham (from Ham chunk/Spiral Ham)
6 cans of white beans (I cook the beans separately, 3 cans at a time)
6 garlic cloves
Fresh Parsley (flat leaf)
Butter & Olive Oil



Chop all ingredients and place in a simmering pot, bring water just about to the level of the vegetables, add the ham chunks. There is no need to add spices and or salt and pepper as the ham will take care of flavoring the soup.


Let the soup simmer for at least 40 minutes or until the carrots are tender.



Once the soup is cooked, remove the chunks of ham as well as at least two large glasses of broth. I let the broth cool off to the side and actually drink it before the end of the day. It is great to drink as a stand alone and very healthy, not to mention the diuretic properties.


Bring in the hand mixer and pulse the soup to an almost velvety texture, I like to keep bits and pieces in it myself.

Put to the side.

To make the first batch (5 bowls):

Dice 1/2 of the ham, keep the other half for the next batch
3 cans of white beans will yield 5 large bowls of soup - rinse the beans under cold water.

In a saute pan or wok, add one tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter. Bring to a melt.
Add garlic and chopped parsley, let the garlic golden a bit.
Add the 3 cans of beans.
Add the ham.
let simmer for about 10-15 minutes on low heat.






 Serving:

In a bowl, place the white beans/ham mix at the bottom of the bowl and cover with the vegetable soup.
Add parsley and grated cheese of choice to the top. Serve with a piece of French baguette (though any sourdough loaf would do).




Put the rest of the vegetable soup to the side, you can also freeze if if you wish to.
The next time around, just saute 3 more cans of beans with ham and parsley and repeat the serving.

I like to cook the beans separately as I find it gives extra flavor to the soup. They generally tend to become very blend if they cook with the vegetables. Tell us what you think!

Enjoy!
Sophia

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I welcome your feedback and comments. If you have a question or a specific request, do not hesitate, I am here to help! Thanks, S.