Description
Use smoked ham hocks to add hearty flavor to a navy bean soup made from scratch.
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package dry navy beans – picked over, rinsed, and drained
- 10 sprigs fresh parsley
- 2 sprigs chopped fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 large smoked ham hocks
- 1 carrot, coarsely chopped
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
- 8 cups cold water
- 1 pinch kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place navy beans into a large pot and cover with several inches of cold water. Bring to a boil
- reduce heat to low
- and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat
- cover
- and let stand for 1 hour; drain and rinse beans.
- Use a small piece of kitchen twine to tie parsley
- thyme sprigs
- and bay leaf into a small bundle. Place soaked beans
- herb bundle
- ham hocks
- carrot
- onion
- and garlic into a large soup pot or Dutch oven; add 8 cups cold water. Bring to a boil
- reduce heat to low
- and simmer until beans and ham hocks are tender
- about 1 1/2 hours.
- Turn off heat; remove ham hocks and let cool. When they are cool enough to handle
- remove meat from the bones; discard bones
- fat
- and skin. Chop ham into small cubes. Remove and discard herb bundle.
- Transfer about 3 cups cooked beans along with some cooking liquid into a blender; puree beans. Pour pureed beans back into soup; add ham and bring back to a simmer over medium heat. Season with salt and black pepper.
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Total Time: 2 hrs 50 mins
Servings: 8