White Bean, Spinach and Ham Soup

Shannon's Black Bean and Ham soup has got me thinking of how to use a bag of white beans and the remaining ham hock from the freezer. (See January 16 or click "ham hocks" below to see Shan's recipe.) I did a quick web search and found several similar variations of Shan's black bean soup for white beans. I'm starting with boiling water, then I plan to throw the frozen ham hock into the pot. Then. I'll wait about ten minutes and add the bag of beans and a clove or two fresh minced garlic...

I put the ham hock and the great Northern Beans in the boiling water. I added one clove chopped garlic and covered. In the blender, I put two cloves garlic and a can of undrained spinach, and some of my four color pepper blend and liquefied. That will get added in a couple hours, but for now the spinach and garlic flavors can meld.

So after boiling for about ninety minutes, I noticed the water had just about been absorbed/boiled off. So I pulled the ham hock out to slice the meat off, added about two quarts more water and combined the bean soup with the spinach mix. I then ran about half of the results through the blender. I then put everything back together, added the sliced ham bits, and got the soup going to a simmer. So far it tastes bland, but I'll let it simmer a while before I start adding things.