My husband loved this soup! He pretty much wanted me to make another batch right away. My kids were not as thrilled with it, and I thought it was pretty good too, but not enough to rave about it to the extent that my husband did. I used a recipe from all recipes as base and made a few changes. I added carrots since I had some to use up instead of celery which I was out of… I sautéed the onions, carrots in pancetta (bacon would be a good substitute too), drained any fat and then followed the recipe pretty closely. I did also add some bay leaf and dried thyme to the soup for added flavor.
Ham and Potato Soup
Serves 6
adapted from allrecipes (Delicious Ham and Potato Soup)
Ingredients:
- 4 oz pancetta (or bacon)
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced small
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 3 1/2 cups russet potatoes, peeled and diced small
- 3/4 cup ham, diced small (remove fatty pieces)
- 3 1/4 cup water
- 2 tsp chicken bouillon granules (originally 2 Tbsp)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried thyme or basil
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper, or to taste
- 5 Tbsp butter
- 5 Tbsp flour
- 2 cups milk
Instructions:
- Heat a large stock pot over medium high heat. Add the pancetta bacon, carrots, and diced onions to the stock pot. Sauté the vegetables in the bacon until the onions are softened and the fat in the bacon has fully rendered. Pour off any excess fat.
- To the cooked vegetables, add the diced potatoes, ham, water, chicken bouillon, bay leaf, dried thyme or basil, salt, and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low and continue cooking about 15 minutes or until the potatoes test done, stirring occasionally. When the potatoes are tender, reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer while you finish off the soup.
- In a separate sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk into the butter until it is well combined, then cook for about 1 minute. Heat the milk in the microwave. Slowly add the milk, whisking as you add it until it is smooth. Continue cooking the milk mixture until it is thickened, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add the thickened milk mixture to the soup and stir to combine.
- Heat through and serve immediately with crusty French bread.
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