This is my take on the famous Senate Navy Bean soup served on Capitol Hill. This is also a great way to use up leftover holiday ham from Christmas or Easter as well as mashed potatoes and veggies you've got in your fridge. You can substitute any white beans or garbanzo beans if you prefer. I like the Better Than Bouillon brand chicken base. It's great to have on hand and so versatile for a million other recipes!
In a large dutch oven, over medium high heat, sauté onion, celery and garlic in 1 TBSP of butter until tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
As the veggies are sautéing,, use a fork to poke holes all over the peeled potato. Place the potato in a microwave safe dish covered with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 3 minutes or until soft.
Once the potato has cooled enough to touch, mash it and add 1 TBSP of butter and 1/2 cup of milk. Stir to combine.
To the soup pot, add the mashed potatoes, chicken base, 10 cups of water, black pepper, bay leaf and cubed ham. Over medium high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 60 minutes.
To the pot, add the undrained beans and bring back to a boil over medium highheat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 more minutes.
If the soup is too thick, add bits of water or milk at a time until desired consistency is reached.
*If using prepared mashed potatoes, skip steps 2 and 3.
**You can use Ham Base if you already have it on hand, but if you're purchasing a base for this recipe, I recommend the Chicken Base, simply because it's much more versatile for future uses.
***Refrain from adding any salt to this recipe until you've tasted the final product. There is generally a lot of sodium in the ham and the chicken base, so you don't want your soup to be too salty!