This classic soup is made with white navy beans and a good ham broth. This hearty soup is perfect on a cold fall or winter day. I make a pot of this every year.
I do not soak the navy beans before cooking them, as I like them to cook in the broth and soak up the flavors. To quicken cooking time, you can soak the beans overnight if you prefer. Some people add a couple cloves of garlic to this soup, but I typically do not.
After the Christmas holiday I most always have a ham bone that I save to make broth for this soup and my golden split pea soup. I recommend you do the same, making your broth ahead of time, as it is easily stored in the refrigerator for a couple weeks or frozen for several months.
1 medium onion
2 large carrots
1 ham hip bone
(or 2 ham hocks aka pork knuckles)
Making the broth (in advance of making the soup): Start by roughly chopping the onion, carrots and celery. Sauté the onion in olive oil for five minutes in a large stock pot. To this add carrots and celery, and cook for 5-10 minutes stirring regularly. Sprinkle the vegetables with a pinch of salt to help them soften. Add 1/2 cup of white wine and scrape up any browned bits (you may substitute water or chicken broth as for the wine.) Sauté for another 3-5 minutes to reduce the wine by half. Add the ham bone and cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer and cook for about 3-6 hours. When the meat has fallen off the bone, remove it from the heat and let it cool enough so that you can handle it. Strain the solids from the broth and separate the bones and other waste from the meat. Then return the broth to a container and skim off any fat solids. Place the chunks of ham into a zip lock bag. Place the ham and broth in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, skim the fat that has solidified on the top of the broth and discard. Store the broth in an air-tight container in the refrigerator or freeze until ready to use.
8-12 cups of ham broth (from above)
2 carrots
Navy Bean Soup Instructions
Place 8 cups of the previously prepared ham broth in a large pot set over medium-high heat. Rinse and sort the beans and remove any debris. Add the beans to the ham broth. Peel and cut the carrots into small bite-sized pieces. Add to pot with ham and beans. Once the pot begins to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and pot reduces to a low, steady boil. Cover and cooked 3-6 hours stirring occasionally. As the soup thickens add more broth as necessary for the desired consistency. When beans are tender and the broth is at your ideal thickness, add the reserved ham pieces to the soup and let warm through, 2-3 minutes. Serve hot with a garnish of dried or fresh chopped parsley.
For left-overs you may need to add more liquid to the soup to reach the desired consistency. Use ham broth or water.
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