Mrs. Potter's 5-star Bean Soup

Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 1 lb dry bean
• 1 (3 -4 lb) shank end ham
• 1 medium cabbage, shredded
• 8 carrots, sliced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomatoes
• sausage links (optional)
• 1 cup elbow macaroni
• salt and pepper

Recipe

• 1 cover beans with 6 cups boiling water, let stand overnight. or bring to a boil and let sit for 1 hour before using.
• 2 trim some fat from ham, melt in large kettle. add veggies and saute 20 minutes, remove and set aside.
• 3 pour beans and liquid into kettle, add ham and additional 5 cups boiling water. cover, simmer 2-3 hours.
• 4 remove ham, dice lean meat and stir into beans, along with sauteed veggies, tomatoes and sliced sausages.
• 5 add macaroni, simmer until done.
• 6 cooking tip: if using ham hocks, 2 smoked ham shanks makes it too salty, use only one.
• 7 cooking tip: salting the cooking water makes the beans mealy, but salting the soaking water makes the skins more tender but also less likely to break.