This recipe offers a comforting double smoked ham and bean soup, perfect for battling a flu or using up leftover holiday ham. It's designed to be a thick soup, with a pro tip to purée one can of beans or add a cornstarch slurry for extra thickness.
On medium low heat, cook chopped bacon in a 5 Qt Dutch oven or large pot until the fat has rendered and the bacon is cooked. Remove bacon from the pot, leaving the rendered fat. Add in chopped onion, celery, and carrots. Cook for 10 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Add in chopped ham, garlic paste, mustard powder, dried chives, dried thyme, apple cider vinegar, and black pepper. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. If available, add in the ham bone at this stage. Add in vegetable stock and stir in 3 cans of the drained and rinsed beans and the cooked bacon. Simmer for 1 hour. You can add more water or stock if you prefer a thinner consistency. In a food processor, pour the last remaining can of beans and pulse with a little bit of water to make a thick paste. Add this bean paste to the pot of soup and stir. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes and serve. For an even thicker soup, you can mix 2 tbsp cornstarch with 1/4 cup water to make a slurry. Stir the slurry into the pot of soup and bring to a boil for a few minutes prior to serving.
