Senate Bean Soup
-
1 pound dried navy beans or small white beans, rinsed
-
5 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
-
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
-
2 medium ham hocks (about 1 ½ pounds total)
-
1 small red or yellow onion, finely chopped
-
1 medium russet potato, peeled and quartered
-
1 tablespoon butter
-
1 tablespoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
-
1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
-
1 teaspoon dried thyme
-
Black pepper
-
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
-
Step 1
In a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker, combine beans, garlic, carrots, ham hocks, onion, potato, butter, salt, smoked paprika and thyme. Top with 8 cups of water and several generous grinds of black pepper. Cook until the beans are very tender and creamy, about 6 hours on high. (Beans need to reach a simmer to be fully cooked and safe to eat, so be sure your soup reaches a vigorous bubble. This shouldn’t be a problem on the slow cooker’s high setting. Additionally, beans vary in cook time by age, so if your beans are older, you may need to cook a bit longer than 6 hours.)
-
Step 2
Pull out the ham hocks and put them on a cutting board to cool a bit. Using a fork, mash the potato pieces against the side of the slow cooker. Stir well 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. Taste and add more salt or pepper as needed.
