Puerto Rican Bean Ham Soup Recipes

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.

Steps:

• Soak beans overnight in plenty of cold water to cover.
• The next day, pick over and rinse beans well. Place in pan with 8 cups cold water. Bring to boil and immediately reduce to simmer. Keeping partially covered, simmer until beans are tender, about 35 minutes.
• Meanwhile, saute bacon until it begins to color. Reserve 2 tablespoons fat and drain off any excess. (If preferred, all the bacon fat can be drained and replaced with 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.)
• Make a SOFRITO by sauteing the onion, garlic, bell pepper, black pepper and cilantro or cilantro until wilted in the hot oil. Add ham and salami and saute another 1 or 2 minutes. Add SOFRITO to beans, using water from beans to loosen any last bits from bottom. Consistency of soup should be thick, but not like a stew. If necessary, add enough water to the pan to give it soup-like consistency. Simmer 15 minutes. Add salt, spaghetti and tomato sauce to beans. Cook 7 more minutes. Taste for salt and serve.

Steps:

• Stir 1 tablespoon seasoning blend in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until fragrant and slightly darker in color, about 4 minutes. Transfer seasoning to processor. Add black beans, vegetable broth and olive oil to processor and purée until mixture is almost smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Transfer purée to same saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Mix in lime juice. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with lime wedges.