While you're gathering ingredients, go ahead and make the dumpling dough since it needs time to rest slightly before cooking. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the cold butter pieces and use your fingertips to work the mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs—this keeps the dumplings light and fluffy. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the sourdough discard and milk, then fold this wet mixture into the flour mixture until just combined into a shaggy dough. Set aside. Meanwhile, dice the onion and carrots into roughly ½-inch pieces, chop the celery, mince the garlic cloves, and cube the ham into ½-inch pieces. Having everything prepped and ready will let you focus on building the soup's flavor.

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion, carrots, and celery, and sauté for 5–7 minutes until they begin to soften and the onions become translucent—this releases their natural sweetness and builds the soup's foundation. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute more, stirring constantly, until fragrant. The aromatics create depth of flavor that makes this soup taste like it's been simmering all day.

Pour the chicken broth into the pot with the sautéed vegetables and add the bay leaves. Increase the heat to bring the broth to a rolling boil—this creates the flavorful base for your soup and ensures the beans will cook evenly.

Once the broth is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the cubed ham, northern beans, salt, black pepper, and dried parsley. I like to taste the soup at this point and adjust salt as needed, since the ham adds its own saltiness and broth varies by brand. Let the soup simmer gently for about 5 minutes to meld the flavors before adding the dumplings.

Using a spoon (I use a soup spoon or small cookie scoop for evenly-sized dumplings), drop spoonfuls of the dumpling dough from Step 1 directly into the simmering soup. They'll sink at first and then float to the surface as they cook. Cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes without lifting the lid—this allows steam to cook the dumplings through and keep them tender rather than dense.

After 15 minutes, carefully remove the bay leaves from the pot using tongs or a slotted spoon. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley for a bright, herbaceous finish that contrasts beautifully with the hearty dumplings and ham.