Ham Hock Soup Recipes

NAVY BEAN AND HAM HOCK SOUP

Steps:

• Rinse and sort the navy beans. Place in a Dutch oven with 8 cups water. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes and remove from heat. Let stand, covered, until beans are softened, about 5 hours.
• Drain the navy beans and discard the soaking liquid. Rinse beans and return to the Dutch oven. Add ham hocks, chicken broth, 4 cups water, onion, parsley, garlic powder, basil, black pepper, oregano, nutmeg, and bay leaves. Bring soup to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Mix carrots, celery, and potato flakes into the soup until well combined. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes more.
• Take ham hocks from the pot and place on a cutting board until cool enough to handle. Remove meat from the bones and cut into bite-sized pieces. Return meat to the pot and warm through over medium heat, about 3 minutes.

HAM HOCK SOUP

Steps:

• Heat oil or fat in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and stir occasionally until tender (3-5 minutes). Add stock or water, ham hock, carrot, celery, turnip, garlic and spices, and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, adding more water as necessary to keep ham hock just covered, until meat is very tender (about 2 hours). Add pumpkin and cook for 10 minutes, then add zucchini, and simmer uncovered until vegetables are tender and meat is falling from the bone (15-20 minutes).
• Remove ham hock from soup and, when cool enough to handle, shred or coarsely chop meat (discard skin and fat), add to soup, bring to a simmer, then add silverbeet and simmer uncovered until just wilted (2-4 minutes).
• Serve soup warm, seasoned to taste with lemon juice, a generous grind of cracked pepper and chilli flakes.

SPLIT PEA SOUP WITH HAM HOCKS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, saute onion, celery and carrots over medium-high heat. Add peas and ham hock and cover with stock by a couple inches. Bring to a simmer and cook about 1 hour until soup is thick and peas have almost disintegrated but not quite. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Remove ham hock and let cool. Pull meat from ham hock bone and shred. Garnish with ham and pepper.

HAM HOCK AND LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions, celery, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 4 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaves and thyme. Saute for 1 minute. Add the ham hocks and stock. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook about 1 hour, or until the hocks are tender. Add the lentils and continue cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Reseason with salt and pepper if needed. Remove the ham hocks and remove the meat. Add the ham back into the soup. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls and serve with crusty bread.

BASIC HAM AND BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Rinse the beans, sorting out any broken or discolored ones. In a large pot over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt and the beans and remove from heat. Let beans sit in the hot water for at least 60 minutes.
• After the 60 minutes of soaking, return the pot to high heat and place the ham bone, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, mustard and bay leaves in the pot. Stir well, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 60 more minutes.
• Remove ham bone and discard. Stir in the chopped ham and simmer for 30 more minutes. Season with ground white pepper to taste.