Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Bean-and-Ham Soup

This is my friend Alycia’s recipe for Ham and Bean Soup. To make this more cost effect I like to use dried beans. You can check out this post for direction on how to cook dried beans in a crockpot. This not only makes the recipe less expensive but also healthier since canned beans contain a lot of sodium.

3 (15.8 oz) cans Great Northern Beans, divided
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth divided
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
8 ounces cooked ham, cubed
¼ teaspoon pepper

Melt butter in a Large pot over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add ham, and sauté 10 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring constantly. Rinse and drain beans. Process one-third can of beans and half of chicken broth in a food processor until smooth. I use my immersion blender. Add bean puree, remaining beans, and remaining chicken broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in pepper. Serve immediately.

My kids love this soup and it is a great way to use up leftover ham around the holidays. The ham for our soup this week is Turkey ham that I got on sale at Aldi.