Cabbage & Ham Soup with Cheese Dumplings

 

It was quite chilly and rainy the other day and so I decided to make us a nice pot of hot soup for our midday meal.  You can't beat a bowl of soup on a cold and drizzly day!

 

After nosing around the refrigerator I found some ham that needed using as well as some cabbage.  I do so love cabbage in a soup and cabbage goes very well with ham!  I almost yelled Bingo! 

 

I always keep a variety of chicken stock cubes/pots in my larder. They come in handy for all sorts. Chicken, beef, fish, vegetable, lamb, ham . . . I use them all. They are convenient and work well for all sorts of things.

 

For this soup I used ham and chicken stocks.  You could also use just chicken stock, but I wanted a bit of a smokey flavour.

 

Cubes of ham are first glazed in a mix of brown sugar and a tiny bit of oil. Try not to overcook the ham, as it can dry out really quickly.

 

After that you saute leek and onion, and some garlic . . .  slowly softened without browning and then simmered in a thickened stock until all are melting tender.

 

After that you add the some potato and let it simmer until the spuds are tender.  Then you add the remaining stock, cabbage, return the ham to the pot and add a bit of white wine vinegar. Trust me on this. It's perfect. While that is simmering make the dumplings.

 

Who doesn't love dumplings???  Not me!  We both adore them in this house.  The sight of a dumpling has been known to make my husband jump up and down and rub his hands together in glee!  Okay  . . .  a slight exaggeration, but he does love them a lot!

 

Cheesy dumplings  . . .  so good.

 

These are really tender and delicious. They are the perfect addition to a really tasty soup.

 

Altogether this is a really, really tasty pot of soup.  Nourishing, delicious and filling. 

  

You are going to love this soup. You really are!

Yield: 6Author: Marie Rayner

Cabbage & Ham Soup with Cheese Dumplings

prep time: 40 minscook time: 1 hour and 10 minstotal time: 1 hours and 50 mins

Be judicious when you add salt as ham can be quite salty. This is a delicious soup!

ingredients:

For the soup:

60ml vegetable oil (1/4 cup)

350g smoked ham, cut into cubes (11 ounces)

2 tsp soft light brown sugar

2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced

2 leeks, trimmed, washed and thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 TBS plain flour

1 litre ham stock (6 cups)

480ml chicken stock (2 cups)

black pepper to taste, coarsely ground

3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 savoy cabbage, finely shredded

1 TBS white wine vinegar

For the dumplings:

30g cold butter, cut into small bits (1 ounce)

280g self raising flour (2 cups)

60g finely grated cheddar cheese (2 ounces)

2 tsp finely chopped thyme

120ml water (1/2 cup)

instructions:

Heat 1 TBS of the oil in a large saucepan.  Add the ham and sugar.
 Saute over high heat, stirring continuously, for about 5 minutes, or
until just golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper
towels.  Add the remaining oil along with the leek, garlic and onion.
Reduce heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
to make sure they don't catch, without browning. Stir in the flour and
cook for one minute.  Remove from the heat and add the ham stock
gradually.  Return to the heat and bring to the boil,  stirring, then
reduce and cover.  Cook for about half an hour.  Add the potato to the
pan and simmer for about 10  minutes.  Add the chicken stock, ham,
cabbage and vinegar.  Season with black pepper. Cook for a further 10
minutes while you make the dumplings.

Sift the
flour into a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips
until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.  Stir in the cheese and
thyme. Stir in the water to bind the mixture together.  Drop by heaped
TBS into the hot soup.  Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the
dumplings are cooked through, plump and look dry on top. 

Spoon into hot bowls and top each serving with several dumplings.

Created using The Recipes Generator

 

The leftovers were even tastier.  The dumplings were a bit soggy as they had sat in the soup overnight, but that didn't bother us one bit! We will take dumplings any way we can get them!  Bon Appetit!