Ham Casserole

By Paul Briand

What to do with the leftover Easter ham? Well, my mother is taking care of the bone by making a split pea and ham soup. I doled out some leftovers to family, and I still had plenty for this casserole, adapted from a recipe titled (appropriately enough) End of the Line Ham Casserole on AllRecipes.com.

The AllRecipe version used a little parmesan cheese -- all of 2 tablespoons. I went all out with a package of low-fat Italian blend cheeses. Also, I topped mine with a handful of crumbled French Fried Onions that I had leftover from the breaded pork chops I made not too long ago.

Ingredients

1 can condensed cream of celery soup

1/2 cup milk

ground black pepper to taste

2 potatoes, sliced

1 onion, sliced

2 cups cooked ham, diced

1 7-ounce package of low-fat shredded Italian cheeses

¼ cup French Fried Onions, crumbled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees;

2. In an 8x8 inch casserole dish, combine cream of celery soup with milk and a generous amount of pepper;

3. Layer the potato slices, then onion slices then ham on top;

4. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour;

5. Remove foil and sprinkle the cheese and crumbled French Fried Onions over the entire surface;

6. Bake uncovered for another 20 minutes or when cheese is bubbly, then let rest five minutes and serve.

Click here for recipe card.

Ham and Potato Casserole

By Paul Briand

Apparently I wasn't alone on Monday, wondering what I was going to do with the leftover Easter ham in the refrigerator.

"Leftover ham recipes" was one of the biggest search inquiries on the web on Monday.

In a bow to a recent visit to Alabama, where everything we ate seemed to have some kind of pork associated with it, I concentrated my own search to the Southern Food section of About.com and came with this recipe for Ham and Potato Casserole.

Ingredients
1 1/2 to 2 pounds potatoes, thinly sliced, about 4 to 5 cups
2 cups diced ham
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/4 cup finely chopped red or green bell pepper
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups half-and-half or 1 cup milk and 1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
salt, to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, optional

Directions
1. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Heat oven to 325 degrees;
2. In a large saucepan, melt butter; add onion and celery and sauté until tender;
3. Add bell pepper and sauté for one minute longer;
4. Stir in flour until smooth;
5. Gradually add half-and-half, stirring constantly;
6. Add seasonings and salt to taste;
7. Continue cooking, stirring, until thickened;
8. Add sliced potatoes and diced ham and stir to combine;
9. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish;
10. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes;
11. Remove foil and bake for about 10 minutes longer, or until potatoes are tender;
12. If desired, sprinkle shredded cheese over the top of the casserole and bake for a few minutes longer, or until cheese is melted.

Serves 4 to 6.