soup beans

Pork

Soup Beans

Soup beans speak instant comfort to anyone who has familial connections from Appalachia, where every garden produced shelling beans that could be eaten fresh or grown to maturity for dry beans.

Ingredients

1 pound pinto, yellow-eyed or other dried beans, sorted and rinsed (2 1/2 cups)
12 cups water
8 ounces finely diced ham, (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 medium onion, peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions

Place beans, water, ham, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper in a large Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are very tender and beginning to burst, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If necessary, add an additional 1/2 to 1 cup water while simmering to keep the beans just submerged in cooking liquid.
Remove from the heat; discard the onion and garlic. Transfer 2 cups of the beans to a medium bowl and coarsely mash with a fork or potato masher. Return the mashed beans to the pot; stir to combine.