Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

potato, bacon, ham, & ramp (wild leek) soup

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Carolyn Chasteen
Birchwood, WI

Ramps grow from South Carolina to Canada, and in many areas they're considered a spring delicacy and even a reason for celebration. The flavor is a cross between a green onion or scallion and garlic. Dig these spring treasures now because their growing season is limited to a few short weeks. My husband and I are fortunate to have so many patches of them located on our woodland property. We chop and freeze several pounds of them raw (green and the white parts) for later use in recipes. I also make and freeze an excellent compound butter for steamed vegetables, potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, etc. I will post that recipe as well.

(1 rating)

Ingredients For potato, bacon, ham, & ramp (wild leek) soup

  • 6 slice
    uncooked bacon, diced
  • 6 c
    diced red or yukon gold potatoes (i don’t peel them)
  • 1 c
    diced ham
  • 2 c
    diced onion
  • 4 c
    water
  • 4 tsp
    chicken bouillon granules or 4 cubes
  • 1/2-1 tsp
    salt (depends on how salty the ham is)
  • 1/2-1 tsp
    white pepper
  • 2 c
    ramps (wild leeks), sliced or chopped (use both the green and white parts)
  • 2 c
    milk (i used 2 %)
  • 4 Tbsp
    flour
  • several pats of butter

How To Make potato, bacon, ham, & ramp (wild leek) soup

  • 1
    Sautee the bacon with the onion until the onion is translucent or almost tender. Add the water, bouillon, potatoes, ham, salt, and pepper. Simmer until the potatoes are tender.
  • 2
    Add the chopped ramps to to the simmering pot. Thoroughly combine the milk with the flour and add that to the pot too. Cook until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Serve hot with a small pat of butter placed on the surface of each bowl of soup.
  • 3
    Note: Regular cultivated leeks, found in most grocery stores, make an excellent substitute for wild leeks in this recipe but trim off and discard the tough part of the green tops if using them.

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