White Bean Soup with Ham and Chard
(This is an old recipe that has been removed from my site. I am leaving the printer-friendly recipe here for anyone who was a fan of this soup!)
(Makes 8-10 servings, recipe created by Kalyn. This will freeze very well.)
Ingredients:
3 cups dry white beans, soaked 8 hours or overnight
2 tsp. olive oil (for sauteeing vegetables and seasonings, optional)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups diced carrots
1 T minced garlic (I used garlic puree in a jar)
1 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. ground fennel seed (optional but recommended)
10 cups homemade chicken stock or 6 cans chicken broth (1 can is just over 1 1/2 cups)
4 cups water
3-4 dried bay leaves2 cups diced ham plus ham rind if available
1 bunch chopped red chard (about 4 cups)
Goya ham bouillon if needed (depends on how flavorful your ham is)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions:
Soak dried beans in cold water for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse the soaked beans and pick out any broken ones and discard. Chop up the ham, saving the rind if there is one.
Chops carrots, celery, and onion. Heat the olive oil in the bottom of the soup pot, add vegetables, garlic, dried sage, and ground fennel and saute 3-5 minutes. (This is completely optional, but it gets the flavors of the sage and fennel into the vegetables.) Add the soaked beans, chicken stock, water, bay leaves, and ham rind if available. Simmer on low heat for one hour.
Add diced ham and cook 30 minutes more, or longer if needed, until beans are quite soft.
Trim center stem from chard leaves and discard, then cut each leaf in fourths lengthwise, and slice crosswise into strips about 1/2 inch wide. Wash chard after chopping if needed. (If the leaves are big, cut the pieces in half again.)
Add chard to soup with one cup additional water. Taste for flavor and add ham bouillon if desired. (I nearly always add a small amount.) Cook about 20-30 minutes more, until chard and beans are starting to break apart. Season with fresh ground black pepper and serve hot.
15 Comments on “White Bean Soup with Ham and Chard”
So….how much ham? (I don’t see it in the ingredients list, am I totally missing it?)
I JUST found it!!! (please hit return afterbay leaves ๐ )
There are formatting errors like that all over the blog (caused when I switched to a more sophisticated blogging platform last summer. I’m fixing them as quickly as I can. Glad you found it, and I’ll fix this now!
Amy, so glad you liked it!
Just finished a delicious bowl – I loved the flavor combination of the sage and fennel. I didn't have any ham bouillon so I used chicken. I also didn't see the add extra cup of water with the chard, so my broth was pretty full flavored but I loved it. Thanks as always for your great recipes!
Thanks Amy! Some bloggers think I'm nuts for including those old photos, but I love seeing the progress. It really helps me to not get frustrated on those days (which still happen) when i can't get a photo to turn out the way I want it!
Just wrote all the ingredients on my grocery list! This will be dinner for tomorrow so I can soak those beans. I'm betting I will love it. And ps – the original picture is pretty funny :). Your skills have really improved ๐
Thanks Katie; so glad you liked it!
I just love soups just like this! Flavor from the ham, and then tons of healthy high-fiber ingredients to make it satisfying. Love this Kalyn!
Lydia, sounds like a good idea. My stepmother doesn’t eat pork so she would love this idea.
Tanna, where you are you might have an easier time finding the Goya brand. It’s by far the best in my opinion.
Ruth, thanks, and Kale would be great.
Toni, you can probably get Goya brand there too, and do try the ham rind.
Alanna, thanks, and I have heard about the parmesan rind too but haven’t done it. This is #3 soup for me, and one more coming next week. (Then what will I cook for March? Green food?
Glorious, for sure! I always save the rinds of Parmesan wedges, too, that’s another way to add flavor. But I’ll definitely try the ham rind, especially since I’ve gotten so keen on smoked ham since Christmas.
Thanks for the contribution to Soup’s On, #2, yes?!
Love white bean soup, but never knew about the rind trick – Thanks! And I’ve never looked for ham bouillion, but I’m sure it’s available here in San Diego. Great ideas, and a great looking soup!
Sounds wonderful, and perfect for the kale I just bought! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve done the ham rind trick but haven’t discovered the “ham bouillon” and will seek it out.
Yes this really is a beautiful color for the soup.
White bean soup is one that lends itself well to my trick of substituting barbecue sauce for the ham, to get the smoky flavor into the beans without the meat. Yes, it adds a tiny bit of sugar, but usually a tablespoon or so of BBQ sauce is all that’s needed.