Navy Bean Soup with Vegetables

I bought some dried Navy beans when my local store had a sale and there they sat in the pantry.  I looked for some recipes to inspire me so I took the best parts of all of them, added some of my favorite items and came up with this soup.  I hope you like it.  This recipe is a good way to empty your fridge of those crisper basics that you have left over. Omit ham hocks and use vegetable stock to make this recipe vegetarian.

Makes 5 quarts of soup

1 lb dried Navy Beans
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 large carrots or 4 average sized carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
1 celery heart, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
6 cups chicken or beef stock, or a combination
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes with Italian seasonings
1 ham hock
1 TBS salt
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
16 oz fresh spinach

Here's how:

Place the beans in a large bowl filled with water to cover the beans by at least 2 inches.  Let soak over night.

In the morning, strain the beans and set aside.

Soaked and strained beans

Pour the oil into a large soup pot.

Add the carrots, onion, celery and garlic.  Saute 10 minutes until the veggies are soft.

All the veggies that are going in

Celery

Carrots

Onions

Everythin in the pot

After 10 minutes

Add the Bay leaves, thyme, stock, tomatoes, ham hock, salt, pepper and beans.

Broths and tomatoes

Bay Leaf

Ham hock

Soup all put together

Bring the pot to a boil then lower and let simmer for about 2 hours, until everything is softened and the broth has full flavor.

Add the spinach and cook for 5 minutes until it completely wilts.

Spinach added

Soup is done

Serve with crusty bread.  You can sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top if you like.