Every New Year my brother makes bean soup.  This year I asked him for his recipe.  He sent it, and I made it.  However I used ham hocks as i did not have a ham bone.  You would think that as much as I cook I would have thought about the fact that a serial cut ham, bone and meat would me much more salty than a fresh ham hock; I did not.  We added salt to each bowl on Tuesday.  We had half left over, so before warming up, I added 1 t salt.  Perfect!  He did not say how many it serves and, of course, that would depend on who is eating, but I would say easily 6.  

Ingredients:

Ham bone (I used 3 ham hocks)

16 oz. pkg Navy beans

7 C water

2 C diced ham (I bought a ham steak  and cut it up)

1/4 C diced onion

1 bay leaf

1 C diced celery

1 C sliced carrots

1/2 t black pepper

1/4 t salt ( If using the ham substitutes, 2 t salt)

Instructions:

1. Soak beans overnight.  Rinse and add all the remaining ingredients except the celery and carrots..
2. Simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes until the beans are soft.
3. Remove the ham bone.  Add the celery and carrots.  Cook until tender.

I used the Instant Pot.  I put everything in the pot closed the lid and pushed the butter that said beans.  It took 30 minutes.  We ate it on Tuesday and I had leftovers from all day painting on Thursday.  We have one small serving left for a lunch.  

I would defiantly make it again and maybe even have it for company.