Cheesy Ham and Potato Bake

It has been an interesting week around our house! Last Friday we got about 4 inches of snow. I know to some of you 4 inches of snow is nothing. However, for anywhere in Georgia that’s a lot. Needless to say, it shut down everything around here. Roads closed, schools closed, stores closed. I mean it really shut down. BeeBop and I had weekend plans to go to Savannah for a few days since we were both off work on Monday. We had every intention of getting up and starting out early on Saturday morning, but Mother Nature had different ideas. That beautiful blanket of snow that fell on Friday had turned to one huge, slick piece of ice by Saturday. So, after several hours of shoveling, salting and cat littering, BeeBop got the driveway in shape so that we could drive down it without winding up in our across-the-street-neighbors’ living room and off we went. The first hour of the drive was just a little harrowing. Between our house and downtown Atlanta we saw 18 wrecks or spin-outs. Whew.

We did make it to Savannah without any incidents and had a really great time there. So many beautiful, historic things to see and great places to eat. Can’t wait until we can go back again!

The night before we left on our little weekend excursion, I made an old favorite casserole. It’s this cheesy ham and potato bake. It’s another one of those recipes that’s great for using up leftovers. And what’s not to like about the combination of cheese, potatoes, and ham?

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheese
1/2 lb ham, diced
6 cups diced cooked potatoes
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 350.

Begin by chopping the onion and parsley and cubing the potatoes. If you have leftover baked potatoes, they work great for this dish. I didn’t have any, so I microwaved six small baking potatoes, peeled and cubed them.

Saute the onion in butter until it is tender but not browned. Blend in the flour, salt, mustard, and pepper. Cook for a few minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste.

Now gradually add the milk. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture is thickened. Add 1 1/2 cups of the cheese and stir until melted.

Add the ham, potatoes and parsley. I used one of those 8 oz. packages of diced ham they have in the grocery stores now. Those packages are a wonderful thing. You don’t have to wait until you have a little bit of leftovers to make a dish like this and you don’t even have to bother with chopping the ham yourself. Great stuff. Stir well to combine, being careful not to break up the potatoes too much.

Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Download a printable copy here.

Tagged as: baked dish, casseroles, cheese, cooking, entrees, Food, ham, Main Dishes, oven dish, potatoes, recipes