The easiest white bean soup

[Neecy]

This is one of my favorite soups, and now that the weather is cooling down I decided to make a pot last night.

It was pretty standard - white beans, minced onion/carrots, granulated garlic, white pepper, and some dried shallots.

What made it different this time was a ham soup base I picked up on my last trip to Penzey's spices. It's the first ham base I've found, and I thought it would jazz up bean soup a little so I picked up a jar. When I opened it, I was surprised to find that it wasn't a powder but a thick paste, and the first ingredient listed on the label wasn't a nasty chemical but - surprise! - ham.

And this stuff is GREAT. I added about a tablespoon while the beans were cooking and it infused them with a delicious smoky ham flavor. It didn't have the jaw-dropping saltiness of most prepared bases and doesn't contain MSG. The soup had a nice richness and the flavor was terrific.

If you have a Penzey's nearby, this is a must-have for winter soups. If you don't, here's the Penzey's online page - and this stuff will make a lot. It's a big bottle and a hefty tablespoon will flavor a lot of soup. I'm going to use a little of this the next time I cook lima beans, too.

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyssoupbase.html

[eleny]

1. Those bases are great!

Ham base is so delish. And the pastes make soup prep so fast. I don't always have the bones needed but still want the homemade.

I got some fresh pork base at Penzys and love it. My mom used to make a lima bean soup with a fresh pork shoulder bone. Now, I just use the base for a quick soup. The flavor takes me right back to her kitchen of years ago.

[grasswire]

2. BTB makes a ham base, too...

....but I haven't found it in local stores. I wonder how it compares to Penzey.