Brrrrr. It’s freezing out! Time to make a stick-to-your ribs, hearty bean soup with lots of vegetables, tasty chunks of spicy chorizo sausage and lusciously tender ham hock.
This recipe is adapted from one in Carolyne Roehm’s Winter Notebook. I always love browsing her notebooks as I’m preparing to shift seasonal gear. The photography is inspiring, and gives hope that a warm fire, cozy blankets and a bowl of delicious soup will get us through any “polar vortex”.
Flageolet Bean, Ham Hock & Chorizo Soup
A deliciously hearty soup with lots of vegetables, tender white beans, spicy chorizo sausage and luscious ham hock. Mmmmmm.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb dried flageolet or small white beans, soaked overnight
- 1 small onion, quartered
- 1 large carrot, cut into 4 large pieces
- 1 stalk celery, cut into 4 large pieces
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 smoked ham hock, rinsed and left whole
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 leeks (white and light green parts only), chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 stalks celery, chopped into 1/2” pieces
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2” pieces
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled & chopped into 1/2” pieces
- 4 cups of water
- 1 28 oz can whole Italian tomatoes
- 1 tbsp dried sage
- 1 lb Chorizo sausage, sliced 1/4″ thick
- kosher salt & freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 c chopped parsley
Instructions
- Drain the soaked beans and add them to a large stockpot with the small quartered onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves and ham hock. Add enough water to cover the ingredients by a couple of inches. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the beans are tender, skimming any foam as it arises (1 to 1.5 hours).
- Remove the ham hock and set aside to cool. Remove the meat from the bone and chop into 1″ pieces, discarding the fat.
- Drain the beans in a colander and discard the bay leaves, onion, carrot and celery pieces. Wash the stock pot and return to the stove.
- Heat the olive oil in the stock pot over medium heat. Add the the chopped onion, leeks, and garlic and sauté until tender and translucent (about 4 minutes). Add the carrots, celery, and potatoes and sauté until slightly brown, adding more olive oil if the pan is dry (about 5 minutes). Add the sage, the water, and the tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a spoon.
- Cover the stockpot and simmer until the vegetables are tender (about 20 minutes).
- Add back the beans, the ham hock pieces and the chorizo, and heat back to a brisk simmer. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
- Serve garnished with chopped parsley.
Notes
- If you run out of time, or forget to soak the beans, simply cover them with a couple of inches of water in a large, lidded stock pot and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and leave them covered for an hour. You’ll be in the same place as if you’d left them soaking overnight. Drain and proceed!
I’m sharing this post with Between Naps on the Porch.
Ms. Kain,
Pinned this for the coming week, looks and reads as if it will be delicious.
Is the ham hock smoked?
Happy New Year!
Elizabeth Speicher
Hi Elizabeth,
Happy New Year to you, too! I hope it’s filled with joy, prosperity and good health for you and your family.
Yes, the ham hock is smoked; I’ll adjust the recipe on the site to eliminate any confusion. Sorry…
It is indeed delicious. Enjoy!
Best,
Helen
Making this heart warming soup for lunch today. Much warmer now than past 2 weeks in WI but absolutely still soup weather. No chorizo so substituting chick peas seasoned with smoked paprika and chicken stock for water. I think it’ll be fine and flavorful. I enjoy beans galore anyway. Nice reason to get out low soup bowls too.
Thanks, Helen!
★★★★★
Wonderful substitution! Lots of flavour and protein without the fat. Yum.