Ham and White Bean Soup

I bought some Great Northern Beans at the store on a whim... Why? I've never cooked with beans. I had no idea what I wanted to make.
Well, this morning, I put the beans in water to soak, and headed to work with the intention of finding a recipe to make when I got home.

I found two recipes, and decided to mix the two of them together... These are the two I worked with:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/White-Bean-n-Ham-Soup/Detail.aspx
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/ribollita-recipe/index.html

First, I chopped up the celery, carrots, onions, garlic, and ham:


In the meantime, you boil the white beans. P.S. My beans never got soft enough, so I'd recommend soaking them overnight in LOTS of water. And boiling them for a good 40 minutes before adding them to the soup.
I took out half of the white beans and blended them to make the soup thicker:


Saute your onion, celery, carrots, and garlic with butter and olive oil over medium heat for 10ish minutes. Add cubed ham, chicken stock, and spices, like a bay leaf, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and basil:


Ladle it into a bowl, add parmesan cheese, and eat!


It's not perfect, but it will be once, and if, I try it again.