Ham & Cauliflower Bread Bowl

Ham & Cauliflower Bread Bowl  

Ruthie Wagner

1-2 ham bones with a little ham on them

6-8 cups water
several brown or red potatoes

1/2 large yellow onion

1 c. of carrots, chopped

1 c. of celery, chopped

1 T. garlic

1 head of cauliflower

sourdough bread (the round roll kind)

grated cheese (preferably the strong and hard kind)

1. Boil and simmer ham bones and water in a large saucepan. The water doesn't need to cover the bones. I boiled them for at least half an hour.
2. Pull the bones out of the water, and leave the liquid in the pot on the stove! Cut the meat from the bone and set aside. Throw the bones away.
3. Chop and add to the liquid the potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, and garlic.
4. Cook on medium until veggies are soft. Pull the veggies out of the pot and puree in blender (or food processor) with a little liquid.
5. Add ham pieces, cauliflower florets and puree mixture to the pot. Cook until florets are done but still slightly firm.

To serve:

1. Cut out the inside of the sour dough roll to make a bowl and set the bread insides aside for later soup dipping.
2. Ladle soup in bread bowl.
3. Top with grated cheese.
4. Enjoy!

Notes: I like to freeze ham bones with some meat on them until I'm ready to use them. Then I can use two for one soup. Hint: Men like meat. Hint hint: My man likes to share so one BIG bread bowl makes for a romantic dinner as you can see from the picture above. It's difficult to eat bread bowls with good manners. Oh well. It's delicious.