This is an adaption of a recipe I found in some cooking magazine long ago, and which I'll be making on Tuesday to celebrate my first harvest of arugula. (I know you guys are baking in the east, but it's still bean soup weather here. It's an outstanding bean soup all by itself, but you can apply the rather novel idea of adding the fresh arugula and/or the spicey corn bread croutons to any bean soup in your repertoire.
For the soup:
1 lb dried small white beans such as navy or Great Northern
Approximately 1 lb smoked ham hocks
1/4 cup olive oil
l large onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 - 2 cups peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes
4 fresh thyme sprigs
8 cups chicken broth
3 cups fresh arugula, rinsed and trimmed of bad leaves and rangy stems (reserve until service)
Soak beans overnight. Drain and rinse well. Simmer ham hocks in water to cover, covered, for one hour, skim any foam that develops. Reserve. In an 8 quart Dutch oven, sweat onions and garlic in olive oil, then add tomatoes and thyme. Saute for a few minutes, then add soaked beans, chicken broth, ham hocks and broth, and simmer until the beans are tender, about one hour.
Make the croutons while the soup simmers:
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 tsp cumin
3 cups cubed corn bread
Cholula sauce
Mix the cumin and melted butter, then toss with the corn bread cubes and spread out on a cookie sheet. Toast in a 400 degree oven until lightly browned, about 12 minutes.
Before serving, remove ham hocks and shred the meat. Stir the meat back into the soup along with the arugula. When the arugula has wilted, about two minutes, serve topped with croutons and a few shakes of Cholula sauce.