Winter Ham and Potato Soup

With a $2 bag of potatoes and leftover ham, it was time for a hearty, easy, weeknight soup. I had a friend coming over, so I was a bit nervous to cook something from scratch. If I’m cooking for just me and my hubby and it tastes less than great, no big deal.

So onto the actual soup. After reading about three or four “best soup ever” recipes, I decided that less is more. To make this soup, you’ll need to peel about five medium size potatoes.

And then chop them up into 3/4 inch pieces.

This should total about four cups of potatoes.

Next, you’ll need to chop up your ham. You can also use ham that comes cubed already if you’re running low on time. I prefer using a better quality of ham; however I wish this ham was thicker cut. I used about 2 cups of ham.

In a large stockpot, bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil. (Next time I plan to use two cups of chicken broth with 2 cups water) Add the ham and potato. Meanwhile, chop up 1/2 cup celery, carrots, and onion. My celery and carrots were previously chopped and then frozen for convenience.

Give the stockpot a quick stir before adding seasoning. I added some salt and pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and a dash of paprika.

While your soup comes back to a boil, create your roux. A roux is a flour and butter mixture that is used as a thickening agent. Add half a stick of butter to a small pot on medium-high.

Then slowly add five tablespoons flour, being sure to wisk swiftly to avoid lumps.

Then slowly add 2 cups of milk. Once again, be sure to add the milk slowly. It will thicken at first, and then should become smooth once all the milk has been incorporated.

Next, add the mixture to the stockpot. Combine with the rest of the soup and do a quick taste test. Add additional seasoning if so desired. Turn your stockpot down to medium and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

About 5 minutes before serving, I added 1/2 cup of cheese and another pinch of salt. To be completely honest, I wasn’t too overwhelmed by this soup. I cannot wait to make it again with one minor, but I think to be major change. In the beginning, instead of boiling the potato in water, I would boil it in chicken broth. Here is how the final product turned out: