Ham for Christmas usually means that there is a nice ham hock along with some scraps of leftover ham ready to be made into a delicious soup. I used to use Navy beans for this soup, but I found the Great Northern bean be a nice substitute because of the way the beans hold their shape. I like to serve this soup with a lightly buttered deli rye bread on the side. In Polish, this soup is known as Zupa Fasolowa. I can't say if this is truly a Polish recipe, but it was a common recipe that my mom made when I was growing up in Michigan.
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| Great Northern Bean Soup (Zupa Fasolowa). |
Basic Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
1 pound dry Great Northern beans
8 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ham bone
1 generous cup carrots, coarsely chopped
1 generous cup celery, coarsely chopped
1 generous cup onion, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon marjoram
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 generous cups ham, cubed
Salt to taste
Directions
Rinse the beans, sorting out any broken or discolored ones.
In a large pot over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt and the
beans and remove from heat. Let beans sit in the hot water for at least 60
minutes. Alternatively, soak beans overnight. Rinse before using.
After the 60 minutes of soaking, return the pot to high heat
and place the ham bone, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, marjoram, bay leaves,
and white pepper in the pot. Stir well, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and
simmer for 60 more minutes.
Stir in the chopped ham and simmer for 30 more minutes. Remove
ham bone and discard.
Season with salt to taste.
Optional: Serve with lightly buttered deli rye bread on the side.
