Not-quite Senate Bean Soup

Total Time: 4 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 2 lbs mixed dried beans
• 12 cups water
• 1 ham bone, with meat still on it
• 2 1/2 cups mashed potatoes
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 -2 chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

Recipe

• 1 heat beans and water to boiling and boil for 2 minutes.
• 2 remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
• 3 add ham bone and heat to boiling.
• 4 cover and simmer about 2 hours (or until beans are tender).
• 5 stir in remaining ingredients.
• 6 cover and simmer 1 hour.
• 7 remove ham bone from soup and trim meat from bone.
• 8 cut meat into small chunks; discard the fat and bone, and stir the ham into the soup.