I know it sounds like a bit of a joke. You make a “healthy” vegetable soup, but then add jamon iberico to the pot!? But many times I cook based on what I find in the groceries and markets, and sometimes tweak classic recipes just a bit hoping it will all turn out just fine. I have been under the weather lately, so I have been cranky. And cranky and hungry is not a good combination for Marketman. At first I thought it was a bout of hay fever, and after all those massive storms that hit Luzon, the trees, plants and grasses were all wantonly spewing sperm (pollen) into the atmosphere, making folks like me utterly miserable. But now I think it’s something respiratory, but with experiences like this outrageous visit to the doctor (please read it if you need a good laugh), I rarely make a trip to consult with a physician unless it seems VERY SERIOUS. So I thought I should make a large pot of vegetable soup instead, and imagine my surprise when I checked the archives and it seems I have never posted this house favorite before…

In the meat section at S&R today, I spied all of these small packages of jamon iberico with a “buy one, take one” promo. I figured they had finally cut up the 2-3 whole legs of jamon iberico that had been in the chillers for eons, possibly years, and didn’t sell due to their shockingly high price tags… some PHP25,000+ per leg, down from the old price of somewhere near PHP50,000. I love jamon iberico, but I would have a seriously hard time buying a whole leg, despite having the perfect jamon iberico stand, here, that I got from Santa for Christmas 2007, and sits like S&M art in our beach kitchen… At PHP599 for a small package, it was still pricey even if I got one free, but I knew these little chunks harbored incredible flavor, so I bit the bullet and bought some. Next I grabbed some veggies from the chillers and it was off home to start chopping…

Into a large Le Creuset enameled pot I added some olive oil, then chopped carrots, onions and celery and let that sweat for some 5 minutes or so over medium heat. Then I chopped up the jamon iberico into smaller bits and added that to the pot and sauteed for a few minutes. Next I added some sliced small leeks, some finely diced potatoes and sauteed that for a while longer. Next I added some chopped yellow peppers, some baguio beans and kept stirring for several minutes more. When it seemed the veggies were happy and wanting a bath… pour in a couple of cups of chicken stock and double the amount of water. Add some dried or fresh herbs such as oregano, basil or parsley if you have them. I then added a can of white beans, drained, and a can of chopped Italian tomatoes and brought this all up to a boil. After about 10-15 minutes, the soup thickens a bit and you can taste it to adjust the seasoning, it may require some salt and pepper, depending on how salty your ham and stock were to begin with. I then added finely sliced napa cabbage, some regular cabbage, sliced green beans, asparagus, and whatever other veggies you might have in the fridge that you think might work fine in the soup. Cook a little longer and it’s done. It it a thick, flavorful soup chockfull with veggies but it doesn’t take hours and hours to develop its flavor. In this case, the jamon iberico was quite noticeable and its flavor carried through nicely with all the veggies and beans and potatoes. I sometimes make this soup with bacon, or pancetta, or other leftover salty meats and it rarely fails… The soup will heat up nicely the following day as well. Add a little drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground pepper and even some grated parmesan and its a meal in itself! And yes, this still falls into my “diet category” of dishes, after all, each large bowl only gets a few teeny weeny bits of jamon iberico in it. :)

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