I love spiral sliced hams, especially around the holidays. We sell thousands of my Double Smoked Spiral Hams at this time of year and ship them all across the country. Now, with a spiral ham, you’ll get some amazing pieces of ham easily from the bone. But, the slicers can’t go all the way to the end of the bone, so you’ll have some meat left on the bone. Mostly, this meat is not the best part of the ham anyway, it has connective tissue running through it. But it still has a delicious flavor that you can release with my Ham Bone and White Bean Soup Recipe.
Ham Bone and White Bean Soup
Ham bone soup is a staple in many homes, but I know a lot of people that just discard the bone. The Horror! Please don’t do that. If you don’t like great northern beans (that I use in this recipe,) there are many dishes that would benefit greatly from the addition of a simmering ham bone and the flavorful ham you’ll reap from it. There are many other soups, the classic being ham and split pea soup. Other items such as pinto beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, turnip greens, or simply making a delicious stock are other uses. Simply put, don’t throw out the bone! I mainly seasoned this soup with my Garlic Blend. If you don’t have that, just adjust the recipe for salt, pepper, and add 2 tsp of granulated garlic.
Soups and Stews are Simple
Soups and stews are the easiest things on the planet to make. First, you need a stock. This soup makes a stock from the ham bone. Other stocks are easily made from leftover bones, fats, and vegetable trimmings. Or, just use a prepared stock concentrate. I never use a “broth” or “stock” liquid. I always use a good quality stock paste, and make it double to the recipe (Twice as much stock concentrate as the recipe calls for- this doesn’t change for beef, chicken, etc.) But, for Ham Bone Soup, you won’t need any pre-made stocks.
As always, I hope you enjoy!
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Ham Bone and White Bean Soup
Description
This delicious, earthy, soup gets its amazing flavor from the ham bone stewing in the middle of the beans. Don’t ever throw away the ham bone! You can use the ham bone for any number of dishes other than this one — turnip greens, potato soup, collards, stock, and many more uses. This is one of my favorite hearty recipes, and I hope you enjoy.
Ingredients
1 Ham bone from a spiral sliced ham
8 quarts water
1 lb great northern beans
3 bay leaves
1 TBS ground black pepper
1 TBS Melissa’s Garlic Blend
2 tsp salt, or to taste
2 TBS diced fresh Italian Parley
1/2 Cup diced celery
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup carrots, finely diced
Instructions
Soak beans for at least 8 hours, or overnight
In a large dutch oven, place ham shank, beans, then cover with water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
Cook for 1 hour, then remove bone and cut off any remaining ham. Dice up ham and return to pot. Discard bone. Add bay leaves, celery, carrots, onions, and garlic blend. Allow to simmer another hour, or until beans are tender. Stir in Italian parsley. Adjust water as desired. Adjust for salt and pepper, and serve.
