This recipe calls for a crock pot, but you can also cook it the old-fashioned way, in a soup pot. I’d recommend soaking the beans overnight, and then you only need to simmer for 4-5 hours.

1 lb small white beans (Navy or Great Northern)
8 cups water (or 4 cups water, 4 cups broth)
2 cups diced ham (you can substitute a ham shank, or use flavored tempeh for a vegetarian version)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 T chopped parsley

If you’re using a crock pot, just put everything in there together and then cover and cook on the low setting for 8 to 10 hours or until the beans are tender. If you use canned beans instead of raw, you can easily cut the time by half or more.

If cooking old-fashioned soup in a soup pot:

1. Sort and wash the beans and soak them in cold water overnight.
2. Chop the vegetables and parsley.
3. Dice the ham.
4. Add the vegetables to the water (or the water/broth mixture).
5. Add the bay leaf.
6. Add the ham.
7. Drain and rinse the beans, and then add them to the soup pot.
8. Add the salt and pepper.
9. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered for 4 to 5 hours.
10. Add additional seasoning to taste.
11. Serve hot in bowls, sprinkling the parsley on top.

You can make a meatless variety by simply leaving out the ham hock and replacing the beef broth with vegetable broth, but you’ll need to find some way to liven up the flavor. I suggest either adding liquid smoke or perhaps some smoky-flavored tempeh or seitan. You’ll need to experiment to get it just how you like it.

For you carnivores, you can’t go wrong with a small ham shank, or if you really like it with that strong ham flavor, you can add an entire ham hock. Just make sure you get it cracked at least once or maybe twice, if it’s large, to let the marrow flavor the soup stock.

1 clove garlic
1 large onion
1 medium carrot
1 stalk celery
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 qt. beef broth
1 qt. water
1 bay leaf
1 small ham shank or more if you like
2 15-ounce cans of Great Northern beans (or other white bean)
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sage
Salt to taste
Pasta, either small elbow macaroni (#300) or small shells.
Parmesan cheese.

1. Chop the garlic, onion, carrot, and celery and saute in the oil in a saucepan over medium heat, until onion is translucent.
2. Pour beef broth and an equal amount of water into soup pot.
3. Add bay leaf and vegetables.
4. Add ham shank.
5. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower to medium and simmer covered for 2-3 hours.
6. Rinse beans and add to soup.
7. Add diced tomatoes to the soup, juice and all.
8. Add pepper, sage, and salt. Adjust seasonings to taste.
9. Simmer soup for 1 hour or until meat falls from ham shank bone.
10. Remove bone.
11. Add 1 cup of pasta to soup and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
12. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese in bowls. Serve with warm bread.

2 onions, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons butter
1 pound of black beans, soaked overnight
1 ham hock, cracked
1 stalk of celery, chopped fine
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup dry sherry, or dry white wine
Salt and pepper

1. Sauté onions and garlic in butter until the onions are translucent. Add beans, ham bone (hock), celery, bay leaf, to 2 quarts of water in a large soup pot.
2. Add the onions and garlic to the pot.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Cover and simmer on high for 2 hours.
5. Set on low and cook for 4 to 6 hours or more.
6. Remove the ham bone and the bay leaf.
7. In a blender, puree the soup and return to the pot.
8. Add the sherry, and then salt and pepper to taste.
9. Cook for 15 more minutes before serving.

Serve in soup bowls garnished with chopped hard-boiled eggs, parsley, lemon slices, or sour cream.