Spicy Ham and Bean Soup
Who doesn't love a simmering pot of soup on the stove? Some of the best soups are made with a ham bone, but who wants to wait until you have ham for dinner to get a bone? Besides, after eating ham all week, who wants ham soup? Chances are there's a Honey Baked Ham shop near your home, did you know they sell ham bones? For real! I found out about a year ago and have been back a few times. The bones still have a nice end cap of meat on them, more than enough to give you a lot of ham in the soup. I grew up on Navy Bean Soup, but I decided to change it up a bit. Here I add some pasta (to hide the beans from my kids) and some tomato sauce for an extra layer of flavor. I hope you'll give this one a try.
Ingredients
1 ham bone
Ham Bone - 1
Onion - 1 medium, diced
Celery - 3 ribs, diced
Carrot - 3 large, diced
Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies (such as Rotel) - 1 can, pureed
Tomato Sauce - 15 oz. can
Tomato Paste - 1 small can - 6 oz.
Chicken Stock - 8 quarts
Ham Base - 2-3 Tbsp. (I use Better than Bouillon brand)
Bay leaf - 1 whole
Cannellini Beans - 2-3 cans, drained
Small pasta - 16 oz., cooked (I prefer ditalini shape)
Italian Seasoning - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Garlic Salt - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Salt and Pepper to taste
Method
Place the ham bone in a stock pot and add 8 quarts of chicken stock, add some water to the stock to cover the bone. Add the onion, celery, carrots and bay leaf. Bring it to a boil and reduce to a steady simmer for at least an hour. Once you see the ham coming off the bone easily, remove the bone and trim off the meat. Add the ham base to the stock and stir until dissolved. Add the pureed tomatoes and chilies, tomato sauce, tomato paste and combine well. Add the cannellini beans, Italian seasoning and garlic salt and the ham. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir in the cooked pasta and season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!