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–+ servings

White Bean Soup

This white bean soup is easy to make and very nutritious. If you have the carcass of a smoked turkey or the bone from a baked ham, use my recipe for Roasted Turkey Broth, substituting the smoked turkey or ham bone, to make the broth for this soup. With a turkey carcass you definitely need to make broth otherwise you’d have lots of bones and bits in the final soup. While this isn’t the case with a large ham bone, I still prefer to make broth in advance so that I can skim off the fat. There is a link in the notes that follow this recipe to my recipe for Roasted Turkey Broth. Even if you don’t have a smoked turkey carcass or a ham bone you can make this soup. My supermarket sells various smoked turkey and pig parts. Just use them to make the broth. Be careful, though, as these products can be much smokier than a turkey or ham that was smoked to the right degree for eating. Failing all of that, use whatever broth you have on hand (or even water) to begin to cook the beans then add ¼ pound of chopped up bacon with the remaining ingredients.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound Navy or Great Northern beans
  • 3 quarts ham or smoked turkey broth
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • 2 cups chopped carrots
  • 2 cups chopped celery
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 cup minced parsley
  • 1 x 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 teaspoons salt plus more, to taste
  • black pepper freshly ground, to taste
  • 1 piece Parmesan rind if available
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped ham or smoked turkey.

Method
 

  1. Wash the beans. Cover with several inches of cold water. Refrigerate overnight.
  2. The next day, drain the beans.
  3. Combine the beans, broth, and bay leaf.
  4. Cover and bring to a boil.
  5. Cook, partially covered, at a medium boil for one hour, stirring occasionally.
  6. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients.
  7. Slice the carrots in quarters lengthwise.
  8. Cut the carrots crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces.
  9. Cut the celery into strips approximately the same size as the carrot strips.
  10. Cut the celery strips crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces.
  11. Dice the onion.
  12. Mince the garlic.
  13. Mince the parsley,
  14. Dig around in your freezer to find a Parmesan cheese rind that you froze with the intent of using in your next pot of soup.
  15. Ready a can of diced tomatoes.
  16. Combine all ingredients except the chopped ham or turkey with the partially cooked beans.
  17. Simmer, partially covered for another hour or two until beans are soft and vegetables are cooked. The cooking time will depend on the type of beans, their freshness, and your elevation.
  18. Adjust seasoning as needed while cooking.
  19. Add the chopped ham or smoked turkey during the last 10 minutes of cooking.
  20. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese, if you wish.

Notes

As good as this soup is when it is made, I prefer to let it cool then refrigerate it for at least a day before rewarming and serving.
To make the broth, substitute a ham bone or smoked turkey carcass (or other smoked meat) for the roasted turkey in my recipe for Roasted Turkey Broth.
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