Bean with (not quite) Bacon Soup

Before I learned how to make a proper batch of soup, I thought Campbell's Bean with Bacon was the best thing ever! I actually had some a while ago, and either my taste buds have evolved, or they have altered their recipe - it seemed sweeter than I remembered ... definitely not a good thing. I did revise the original recipe some (easy to google) - I didn't soak the beans and instead used canned, didn't have bacon or liquid smoke, but did purchase a big hunk of smoked pork hock, which was nasty looking, but produced amazing results! Au revoir Campbells ... hello something that tastes quite a lot like Campbells, as I remembered it!

1 medium sized smoked pork - boil in a big pot with a bunch of water, for approx 2-3 hours.

Remove 'thing' from pot, let cool and remove all the meat (not pleasant), set aside. Let stock cool - remove skim on top, then you're good to go with your stock. I used approx 10 cups for this recipe.

To the stock, add:

3 medium carrots, minced
3 medium celery stalks, minced
1 medium onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces tomato paste
1 dash red pepper flakes
3 cans white kidney beans
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook until veggies are done, add beans, season to taste.