"Miss Mary's Down-Home Cooking" - Ham Casserole

Date I made this recipe: April 11, 2010

Miss Mary’s Down-Home Cooking – Recipes from Small-Town America by Diana Dalsass
Published by: A Main Street Book
© 1984 (by Diana Dalsass); 2002 (by A Main Street Book)
Recipe: Ham Casserole – p. 42

It almost goes without saying, doesn’t it, that after Easter is over, one has to do something with the leftover ham. I must have had my recipe radar finely tuned the other day because I selected today’s book, Miss Mary’s Down-Home Cooking and found a ham casserole recipe in one fell swoop!

And it was a tasty recipe—not great, not award winning, but tasty and comforting. I wasn’t sure how the spaghetti would work out as it seemed like it would be hard to eat but I went with it and it was fine. I think I could have been satisfied with pasta and cheese sauce but alas, the reason I selected it was to rid myself of leftover ham and so I added the other ingredients. And it all worked.

I’m thinking about making a soup from the ham bone but it’s almost too hot for that. We’ll have to see how the next few days shake out.

In the meantime, enjoy!

By the way, "Miss Mary" is Miss Mary Bobo of Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House in Lynchburg, Tennessee. If you're in the area, you might want to give it a whirl!

Ham Casserole – serves 4
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 bunch broccoli (2 or 3 stalks—or use a package of frozen broccoli)
8 ounces spaghetti, cooked until tender and drained
2 cups diced cooked ham

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in the flour. Add the milk and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens and comes to a boil. Add the cheese and pepper and cook, stirring, until the cheese has melted. Remove from the heat.

Trim the tough ends off the broccoli. Cut the broccoli lengthwise into quarters. Cook in boiling water or steam until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and chop coarsely.

When spaghetti has cooked, stir in the cheese sauce. Add the ham and broccoli. Turn the mixture into a greased 2-quart casserole. Bake, covered, in a 350 oven 40 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.