bean & pea slow cooker soup

How To Make bean & pea slow cooker soup

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  Step 1
  Add to a slow cooker fried and crumbled bacon, bacon grease, onion, bell pepper, carrot, celery, garlic, frozen green beans, frozen peas, and your choice of 4 types of beans. If using canned green beans and peas do not add those until the last hour.
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  Step 2
  Add tomato paste, beef bouillon, a cup of beer, seasoning, and optional ham bone or ham chunks. If you feel like it needs more liquid, add 2-3 cups of water.
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  Step 3
  Cook on low for about 8 hours.
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  Step 4
  In the meantime, if you're adding the sausage, cut it into 1/4" circles. Pan fry, stirring often, until they start to brown. Drain on paper towels.
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  Step 5
  About 1 hour before serving add the sausage, stir well, and heat through. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.
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  Step 6
  Garnish soup with thinly sliced green onion tops or parsley. Serve with hot buttered cornbread. This freezes well.
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  Step 7
  *TIPS: To prepare the night before serving, fry the bacon and sausage, drain, and set aside. Pour bacon grease into a container and refrigerate. Leave the Crock Pot in the OFF position and dump all the ingredients into the Crock Pot EXCEPT the bacon grease and meats. Cover and let sit overnight. In the morning add the bacon grease and crumbled bacon, ham bone, and ham. Stir and set the unit on low for 8 hours. Before serving add the cooked sausage and heat through. *COOKS NOTES: PLEASE READ - My recipe takes it to the extreme and most Crock Pots will not hold all of these beans/peas. Use the ones you like or will fit in your Crock Pot. Corn and tomatoes, in my opinion, really make a difference but can be left out if you don't like them. The beer can be omitted - it will only alter the taste slightly but the beer does make a difference. This is not a low-sodium recipe but it doesn't have an excessive amount of sodium/per serving. The portion you eat will be no saltier or have more sodium than the same-sized portion of one of the canned peas/beans. There is no salt added to the ingredient list - add it if you need to. The fresh vegetables don't have sodium nor do the dried herbs so that cuts down on the total sodium. If sodium is a problem get as many low-sodium canned items as possible. If you must rinse off the creamy liquid from the peas and beans, you will lose some of the flavor but it's still good. If you use sausage, fry it off or boil it first to render the grease out. Make this your own! Drain the veggies that have a thin liquid like corn, green beans, and green peas if desired. I prefer the frozen peas because they hold up better in the recipe, but canned is fine. If you want to leave the bouillon out, do it!
• Step 8
  To Pressure Can: Put hot soup into sterilized jars up to 1/2 inch from top. Seal and tighten the band just until you have resistance - DO NOT over-tighten the bands. Pressure cook according to the following directions: Dial Gauge Canner — Process at 11 pounds pressure - Pints 60 minutes and Quarts 75 minutes. Over 2000 ft above sea level times may differ. Weighted Gauge Canner — Process at 10 pounds pressure - Pints 60 minutes and Quarts 75 minutes. Over 1000 ft above sea level times may differ. FOOD MUST BE COOKED BEFORE PROCESSING IN PRESSURE CANNER. DO NOT USE THE WATER BATH METHOD ~ I don't want anyone to get sick! Note: cooked seafood can also be added but the processing time must be increased to 100 minutes for pints and quarts.
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