Ham and Potato Casserole

Ham is typically thought of as being served around the holidays, whether it be an Easter get together, or around Christmas time, however I am not a big believer in serving ham only once or twice a  year. Now sure, deli ham is always in abundance in our house, and typically made for quick ham and cheese sandwiches for the kids lunches, however there is always a time that you can cook a ham. That time for my family was not too long ago. Sure, ham was on sale at the local grocery store, and I had a lazy Sunday approaching, so what better of a time to make seven pound ham?

The beautiful thing about making a large ham is that not only does it yield a lot of ham, but it opens up a lot of ideas, beyond the ham and cheese sandwich. This time around, it opened the doors to a ham and potato casserole. One that was so creamy and delicious, that it had comfort written all over it. It was addicting in a sinful way. My wife and why giggled as we ate it because it really was that good.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of cooked ham, cut into small cubes
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bag of Ore-Ida Southern Style Hash Browns
• 1 can of cream of onion soup
• 1 cup of milk
• 8 oz of low fat sour cream
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 cups of Monterrey Jack Cheese
• salt, generous pinch
• pepper, generous pinch

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Begin by adding your milk and cream of onion soup to a pot and cook on medium heat. Mix well, and stir often. Cook just until it starts to steam. Add the butter and sour cream, and mix well. Continue to cook another couple of minutes.

To a large bowl, add in the frozen potatoes, garlic, ham, salt, and pepper. Give it a quick mix.  Toss the hot soup mix into the bowl of potatoes and mix well. Add the cheese.

Get your large casserole dish out and add the ham and potato mix to the dish. Smooth out. Place in the oven for roughly 1.5 hours until the top forms a nice bubbling crust and the potatoes are nice and tender. Let set for about 10 minutes before digging in. Like I said, it is sinful, but really yummy, especially on a late Sunday afternoon. Enjoy.