Potato,Ham and Leek soup

Rita~'s Note:

A quick, easy, hearthy, comfort soup for those cold winter days. A great way to use left over smoked ham. This is rich and creamy. If you like a thinner soup omit the dried potaoes. Which is how I started the soup but found it needed something more.That is where the dried potatoes come in. Serve as a main dish or a cup.Top with shredded cheese.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 6 potatoes, diced small
• 591.47 ml cooked smoked ham, diced small
• 59.16 ml butter
• 5 leeks, white only sliced soaked to remove all the sand
• 1419.54 ml water
• 709.77 ml shredded cheese
• 236.59 ml heavy cream
• 4.92 ml garlic powder
• 4.92 ml dried parsley
• 1 package of betty crockers sour cream & chives instant mashed potatoes
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large pot melt butter and saute leeks and ham till softened add the rest of the ingredients except for the Betty Crockers sour cream& chives mashed potatoes and cook till potatoes are soft 15-20 minutes stirring so cheese doesn`t stick.
2. Add the 1 package of potatoes and stir till nice and creamy.
3. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Reviews

[RSL]

This was very good. I used a combination of chicken stock and ham stock rather than water, and cut the cheese to 2 cups instead of 3. I think without using the stocks it would have needed some more flavor, so I'm glad I had those in the fridge needing to be used. I used the instant potatoes as I prefer a thicker soup, although I tasted it before adding the package and liked it with the thinner texture too.

[Girl from India]

This was very good. I omitted the packaged potato mash and used fresh garlic instead of the powder. We loved the Leeks in the soup. We have only begun getting this locally quite recently and we keep discovering new facets of this vegetable. Thank you :) Fay