Senate Bean Soup
By Sarah DiGregorio · 1 hour 45 minutes · 4 to 6 servings
A recipe by Sarah DiGregorio from NYT Cooking: its ingredients and steps as published. The introduction, tips, photos and reader notes are on the original.
Details
- ⏲️ Prep time: 15 minutes
- 🍳 Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- ⏱️ Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- 🍽️ Servings: 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 red or yellow onion, finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced ½- to 1-inch thick
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Black pepper
- 8 cups water
- 1 pound dried navy beans or small white beans, soaked
- 2 medium smoked ham hocks (about 1½ pounds total)
- 1 medium russet potato, peeled and quartered
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Directions
- Melt the butter in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and carrots, and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant and softened, about 2 minutes. Add the salt, paprika, thyme and several generous grinds of black pepper; stir to combine.
- Add the water, beans, ham hocks and potato. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer and cover the pot. Simmer until the beans are getting close to tender, about 1 hour.
- Uncover the pot and simmer the soup until the beans and ham hocks are tender, the liquid level slightly reduced and the beans are a bit more prominent, 20 to 30 more minutes.
- Pull out the ham hocks and put them on a cutting board to cool slightly. Using a fork, mash the potato pieces against the side of the pot. Stir vigorously to break down some of the beans, too. Stir in the vinegar. Pull the meat off the bones, add it back into the soup and discard the bones and skin. Taste and add more salt or pepper as needed.
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