My Husband’s Easy Potato, Ham and Vegetable Soup with Mini Farfalle

The image is of a plate with a bowl of soup and a spoon, but looking closely into that bowl of potato, ham and vegetable soup with mini farfalle pasta.
Have I ever told you that my husband makes the best soups? Yum, Now I’m Hungry!

Ingredients (try to use organics whenever you can)

  • 2 cups, Organic Chicken Stock
  • 4 cups, Organic Potato Leek Soup
  • ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • ¼ teaspoon fine ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon kosher coarse salt
  • 1 cup chopped ham (uncured nitrite and nitrate free)
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 cup sliced baby carrots
  • 1 small yellow squash (6 inch)
  • ½ cup chopped celery
  • ½ cup chopped leak (not of the base or the leaves, only the white part between)
  • 2 medium peeled russet potatoes (diced on average 1 inch squared)
  • 1 cup mini farfalle pasta

Directions

Put the 2 cups of the chicken stock and 4 cups of the potato leek soup in a cooking pot (a six-quart size minimum cooking pot).

Sitting on a kitchen counter is a carton of Kirkland Brand Organic Chicken Stock and a carton of Imagine Brand Organic Potato Leek creamy soup.
You don’t have to use either of these brands, but these are what my husband used (If you want to achieve the wonderful flavors that my husband did).

I will be using my “GreenLife Brand” Ceramic Non-stick 6 quart stock pot that comes with a strainer lid. This pot comes in pink too. If you would like to buy one for your kitchen, here is a link to the pink.

Sitting on a gas stove top, on a kitchen center island, is a cyan green 6-quart cooking pot with a glass and stainless steel rimmed strainer lid.
This stock pot is dishwasher safe according to the manufacturer (but I never wash any of my non-stick cookware in the dishwasher).

Once the liquids are in, turn the heat on low under the cooking pot.

Add the seasoning (½ teaspoon Italian seasoning) and (¼ teaspoon find ground pepper).

Sitting on the kitchen island counter is a tall container of "Spice Islands Brand" Organic Italian seasoning.
You may already have Italian seasoning at home. We like this brand, and it’s organic.

Add 1 tablespoon kosher coarse salt.

Sitting on the kitchen island counter is a 48oz box of "Kroger Brand" coarse Kosher salt.
You don’t have to use kosher salt, but you will need to use coarse ground salt, to come close to the same taste.

Add the meat, 1 cup diced ham (Uncured Fully Cooked, Nitrite and Nitrate Free, No MSG, No Artificial Ingredients & Made with Organic Honey).

Sitting on the kitchen island counter is a fully packaged round of "Hempler's Brand" Natural, Fully Cooked, Uncured Ham that has no added nitrite and nitrate, is made with organic honey, is gluten-free, has no MSG added, has no artificial ingredients and is minimally processed.
As with other food items recommended here, you don’t have to use this brand of ham. Try and find one that is uncured, fully cooked, has no nitrites or nitrates added, has no MSG or artificial ingredients, is minimally processed and is made with organic honey. If you can’t find these exactly, do the best you can to get something close to this.

We found this “Royal Brand” bamboo cutting board on Amazon, as part of a set of 3 (one small one medium and one large size).

You may not know this, but bamboo is a hardwood. Bamboo is not a tree, but a grass. Even though it is a form of grass, it is harder than oak. Bamboo will grow to maturity, ready for harvest, in 3 to 5 years. Oak matures in 20 to 30 years. It makes more sense to harvest bamboo than oak for the sake of cutting boards. The next time you want to buy yourself a nice set of cutting boards, save a tree and purchase bamboo cutting boards.

Sitting on the kitchen island counter, on a "Royal Brand" bamboo cutting board, is a purple one-cup measuring cup, a portion of the aforementioned ham and a cutting knife that is dicing the ham.
Always scrape cut foods from a chopping block with the blade up (be very careful to avoid injury, as the blade is sharp). Scraping with the blade up reduces damage to your cutting board and helps to keep your knife sharper longer.

Add 1 cup, cut sliced baby carrots.

Sitting on the kitchen island counter, on a "Royal Brand" bamboo cutting board, is a purple one-cup measuring cup, a bag of "Simple Truth Origin Brand" baby carrots and a cutting knife that is slicing the the carrots.
Cut Baby Carrots

Add 1 cup shredded or julienned carrots. These are organic julienned carrots. You can cut up a carrot yourself, but this is so much easier.

Sitting on the kitchen island counter, on a "Royal Brand" bamboo cutting board, is a purple one-cup measuring cup, a bag of "Earthbound Farm Brand" Julienned carrots and a "Victorinox Brand" 7.9 inch Chef's knife that is laying at the top of the board.
When you are done cutting food, make sure to wash the cutting board with hot soapy water, then stand it to dry. Periodically, it is good to treat the surface of the wood with food-grade mineral oil.

Add 1 small yellow squash (6 inch), diced on average, 1 inch square.

A small, 5-inch, yellow straight-neck squash, that came out of Jan's home garden, is lying on a paper towel on a counter in Jan's kitchen.
Beautiful straight-neck squash grown in my garden

Add ½ cup chopped celery.

Seen growing out of the ground, in Jan's backyard garden, is a close-up look at a bunch of green celery.
Fresh celery right out of my garden. Did you know, that if you grow celery, you can cut one stock or two, right off the plant, and the plant will still keep growing? This way, as long as the plant keeps growing, you can get more fresh celery, another day.

½ cup chopped leak (not of the base or the leaves, only the white part between).

Add the potatoes, 2 medium peeled russet potatoes (diced on average 1 inch squared).

Heat on low for an hour and ½.

1 cup of farfalle pasta is added to the soup, 20 minutes before the soup is to be served.

Sitting on the kitchen island counter are 2 packages of pasta (one being "Garofalo Brand" Organic bowtie and the other being "Barilla Brand" Mini Farfalle).
These are good brands. We try to use organic products whenever possible, but we can’t always find them and I don’t like the consistency of some once cooked.

Serve hot.

Seen sitting on a dining room table are a red candle in a crystal candle holder, a pair of crystal and stainless steel salt and pepper shakers, a white porcelain pitcher with a swirl pattern, a plate with a half-full bowl of soup, a spoon that is in the soup with 2 pieces of toast on the side.
The dinnerware is from my “222 Fifth Brand”. The pattern is Christmas Lane Red.
The flatware is the Oneida. The pattern is called Copeland. It is nickel-free (identified as 18/0).
The salt and pepper shakers are Anchor Hocking, a vintage Star of David pattern.
The white pitcher and the candle holder are as yet unidentified (but I’m working on it).

Dinnerware

The plate you put your food on can set the mood for the meal. I have several dinnerware sets. I use different patterns to serve up a meal (depending on how I want to dress up my table). At this time, I do not find my “222 Fifth Brand”, Christmas Lane dinnerware set available.

I did find the following “222 Fifth Brand”, patterns still available for purchase. Just click either link to go to Amazon for a better look at these beautiful dinnerware sets.

“Blue Adelaide” 16-piece place setting (squared white plates with blue floral designs)

“Yellow Adelaide” 16-piece place setting (squared yellow plates with floral designs)

I hope you find the right look for your table. Take my advice, if you find a set of dinnerware for everyday or holiday use that you love, buy them as soon as you can because as is the case with my “222 Fifth Brand”, Christmas Lane Red pattern, once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Other Things You Might Like To Learn About

A Comprehensive List of Kitchen Greats

Over time, I have been given and have bought lots and lots of kitchen appliances, gadgets and tools. If you would like to read about those items I found to be great (and a few not-so-great), click here.

Double-Sided Floral Arrangements

Would you like to learn how to make a double-sided floral arrangement to dress up your table? If yes, click here.

Seen is a 3 by 5 inch, 3 slats, unfinished wooden box with a silk flower arrangement in it, the floral colors being white, red, gray, cream and black with green sprigs.
Seen is a 3 by 5 inch, 3 slats, unfinished wooden box with a silk flower arrangement in it, the floral colors being red, cream, brown and white with green sprigs.

Are You Interested In Some Great Recipes?

If you would like to see recipes that you might like to try using your kitchen greats on, click here to go to Joy With Jan’s Recipes.

What Are Those Things Really Called?

Reading and writing, blogs can be educational. I can’t tell you how many things I have learned (that I thought I already knew) since I started this adventure.

If you would like to learn some of the history behind tableware, here is a “Wikipedia link that is all about Tableware” There you may learn all you wanted to know about tableware but were afraid to ask…(that phrase should date me).

Please, Bookmark This Site

If you haven’t already done so, bookmark this site, because the next time you need a great recipe, you’ll know where to find one.

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