15 Bean Soup

Total Time: 4 hrs Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 1 (1 lb) bag regular 15 bean soup mix or 1 (1 lb) bag cajun 15 bean soup mix
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (15 -30 ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed
• 3 stalks celery leaves, included chopped
• 2 -3 ham hocks or 1 ham bone, with meat still on it
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary (crush with fingertips before adding this releases the flavor)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes

Recipe

• 1 wash the beans; put in large pot and cover with water. bring to boil; stir and remove from heat. cover and let sit 1 hour. after that hour, drain beans and set aside.
• 2 add oil to pot. sauté your ham hocks, onion, and celery until tender.
• 3 next add garlic and sauté 2 minutes more.
• 4 add your beans and cover with water (about 2 inches over top of beans).
• 5 add tomatoes with the juice, parsley, rosemary, black pepper, bouillon cubes, and about 1 teaspoon of salt to start with.
• 6 mix well. bring to boil; stir, reduce heat cover and simmer for 2 to 21/2 hours or until all the sizes of the beans are tender.
• 7 keep watching it and stirring it every once in a while. you may need to add more water; you want it to keep a consistency a little thicker than a soup.
• 8 taste it after it cooks--you may need more salt or pepper.
• 9 during the last 15 minutes of cooking, add the flavor package that comes with the beans.
• 10 serve by itself or over rice.