Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

These Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches are a welcome savory treat that is perfect for parties or picnics. Like ‘em even spicier, add more jalapeño!

A couple of weeks ago, my husband made a dish that called for eight ounces of roasted red peppers aka pimentos. Younger daughter was dispatched to the store and came home with a 12-ounce jar. Now you or I might have just hummed the whole thing in but my husband is still quite the recipe rule follower (although he is getting better with experience) so he weighed out 8 ounces and put the rest in the refrigerator. 

Fortuitously, my pimento cheese recipe calls for exactly four ounces so it did not go to waste. To change things up a little, I added eight ounces of diced ham as well. Delicious!

Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

For this sandwich spread, I used a pack of ready diced ham but this would also be an excellent use for some of your leftover baked ham from Easter or Christmas. If you don’t have leftover pimentos, there are 4 oz jars available at most grocery stores. 

Ingredients 

1 (4 oz or 113g)) jar pimentos, drained and chopped

1-2 teaspoons finely grated onion, plus any juice

8 oz or 227g extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

1 fresh jalapeño, minced

8 oz or 227g diced ham

1/2 cup or 120ml mayonnaise

10 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed

Method

Grate the cheddar finely into a large bowl with plenty of room for mixing. Use a microplane to grate the onion right in top of the cheese so that any onion juice will also drip in. 

Add in the minced jalapeño and the pimentos. Use a fork to mix them thoroughly with the cheese and onion.

Add in the diced ham and mix again. It’s easier to mix thoroughly when the ingredients are dry so make sure to do this before adding the mayonnaise. 

Now, add in the mayonnaise and mix well.

Spread on bread for sandwiches. Be generous! Put it on thick. No one likes skimpy sandwich filling.

Or if you want to get fancy, cut the sandwiches into three. These will be very popular on a party table.

If you make them ahead, refrigerate the sandwiches covered with slightly damp paper towels and then cling film. This keeps the bread from getting dried out and stale. 

Enjoy!

Happy Easter to my readers who celebrate today! It’s Sunday FunDay and my friends and I are sharing creative ham sandwiches. Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Keto 2-Minute Protein Bread & A Ham Sandwich from Sneha's Recipe
• Peameal Ham and Egg Breakfast Sandwich from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy Ham Pimento Cheese Sandwiches from Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Ham, Cheese and Tomato Sandwich from Palatable Pastime
• Ham & Pickle Sandwich from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Croque Monsieur from Making Miracles

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Ham and Split Pea Soup - Instant Pot

This hearty ham and split pea soup is flavorful and satisfying. Made with a smoked hambone, split peas, potatoes and carrots, it’s a full meal soup!

I love baked ham, especially when it has a brown sugar/mustard glaze and pineapples! But my favorite part of that meal comes after most of the cut ham has been eaten, when I can use the bone to make soup. There’s always plenty enough meat left on the bone and the bone itself adds the most wonderful flavor to the broth. 

Before I bought my Instant Pot, this soup would take a couple of hours in a pot stovetop or, occasionally, I’d use the slow cooker to make the base broth and the hambone would simmer for six to eight hours. Either way, this soup was worth it. 

Enter the game changing Instant Pot! Now I can enjoy my ham and split pea soup in under an hour and you can too. 

Ham and Split Pea Soup - Instant Pot

This soup is one I often make after Christmas and Easter if baked ham was on the menu but I must confess that this time, I bought and baked a ham because I really wanted the bone for this soup. Call me crazy. I don’t mind. We enjoyed the ham in myriad ways but this is the best one.

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 hambone (with some meat attached) from a spiral cut baked ham

4-5 cups or 946-1180ml ham, chicken or vegetable stock 

1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed

2-3 carrots, peeled and small cubed

1 lb or 450g green split peas

Method

Use the sauté function to cook the onion in the olive oil for a few minutes. 

Add the hambone and enough stock to almost cover it. Cook on the soup setting for 30 minutes, then use a quick release. 

Fish the hambone out with a slotted spoon and set it on a plate to cool. 

One of the handy features of the Instant Pot is the volume measurements on the side of the pot. For 1 lb or 450g of split peas, we’ll need 6.75 cups or 1.6L of liquid to cook them in for soup. After the ham bone removal, I had 4 cups or .95L of liquid left. 

I hate to make you do math in the middle of a recipe but 6.75 minus 4 = 2.75 so this means we need to add 2 3/4 cups or 650ml more water or stock in with the split peas. Depending on what you have left behind, you may need to add less or more, remembering that your goal is 6 3/4 cups or 1.6L for 1 lb or 450g split peas.

Add in the cubed potatoes and carrots as well. I always cut the potatoes larger than than the carrots because they cook faster and I don't want them to cook to mush. To give you a size perspective, the carrots are about the size of small garden peas, the ones that are called petit pois.

Cook on high 15 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of natural release, then quick release.

While the split peas and veggies are cooking, remove all the edible ham from the bone and discard the bone, gristle and fat. Cut any larger pieces in cubes. 

When the soup is ready, add the ham back in with a few generous grinds of black pepper. 

Serve hot and enjoy! This is soooooo tasty! I wish I had another bowl (or three) now. 

It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day so my Sunday FunDay friends and I are sharing some of our favorite Irish recipes. This ham and split pea soup is one of mine 1. because it’s delicious and 2. because it’s green! Luck o' the Irish to ye!  Check out all the other St. Patrick’s Day recipes below. Many thanks to Amy of Amy’s Cooking Adventures for hosting. 

• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Irish Soda Bread & Leprechaun Traps
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Dingle Pie
• Our Good Life: Irish Nachos
• Palatable Pastime: Bangers and Mash
• Sneha’s Recipe: Irish Scrambled Eggs With Chaffles
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Irish Stout Tea-Infused Truffles
• Food Lust People Love: Ham and Split Pea Soup (Instant Pot)
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Colcannon | Irish Mashed Potatoes with Kale
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Irish Potato Farls
• The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen: Easy Irish Soda Bread

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Ham and Honey Mustard Muffins #MuffinMonday

These ham and honey mustard muffins are the perfect breakfast or snack for anyone who loves honey mustard glazed ham at Christmas. Why not enjoy those flavors all year round, in muffin form?

I almost didn’t participate in this month’s Muffin Monday. More than a month ago, before we moved away from Dubai, I baked these ham and honey mustard muffins. I figured that I would be so busy near the end of April that baking might not be possible. And I hate to miss Muffin Monday!

Sure enough, things have been crazy here. Our shipment arrived on Saturday and we are up to our ears in stuff to put away. This house is just not big enough! (Or more likely, we have too much stuff, but I'm trying not to think about that.) Finally last night I got around to writing this post and editing the photos. Much to my horror, the ham and honey mustard muffin folder was full of the wrong pictures! I had deleted the right ones by accident.

In the middle of the night it suddenly occurred to me that I needed to check the trash folder again, but with the sd card in the computer slot. And much to my relief, there they were! I am delighted to be able to share this recipe with you after all.

Ham and Honey Mustard Muffins

The sweet honey and sharp yellow mustard are the perfect complement to the smoky chunks of ham in these savory muffins. Use a good quality baked ham, not just sandwich slices for the best tasting muffins.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes or 1/2 teaspoon regular sea salt
Few good grinds fresh black pepper
7 oz or 200g smoked ham, diced
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 eggs

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your 12-cup muffin pan liberally with canola or butter or line with paper muffin cups.

Chop your ham into small chunks.  Put aside a small handful for topping the muffins before baking.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper and stir well.

Fold in the larger pile of ham and stir again.

In another bowl, whisk your milk, oil, eggs, mustard and honey.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and top each with some of the reserved ham.

Bake in your preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins from the pan to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Make sure to check out all the other lovely muffins my Muffin Monday friends are sharing today!

• Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chip Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins from Simply Inspired Meals
• Ham and Honey Mustard Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet Potato Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts
• Whole Wheat Dinner Roll Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Cheddar Ham Chive Muffins #MuffinMonday

Loads of extra mature sharp cheddar cheese, smoked ham and chives make these cheddar ham chive muffins the perfect accompaniment to your favorite soup, or as a stand alone treat for breakfast and snack time.

This past week I had the absolute pleasure of visiting a dear friend in Northern Wales. The weather flip-flopped from cold and clear to cold and snowy and back again with just a little rain and tiny hail from time to time to make things interesting. It was an ideal time to turn the oven on and bake!

Since Jane and I have similar tastes - salty over sweet every time - I decided that savory muffins were the way to go. As a bonus, Jane's parents were kind enough to let me use their back garden to take the muffin photos since it was rather dark inside. Check out the gorgeous sea view they enjoy! I could have looked at it all day if the temperatures hadn't been so cold! Yes, that is still SNOW on the ground.

The Irish Sea

Of course, I shared the muffins with them as well. They said they'd never had a savory muffin so I was pleased to be the baker and bearer of a first for them.

I had a similar experience when I baked Brie and Bacon Muffins for Scottish friends we were visiting in Paris. Despite my saying that the muffins were made with Brie and bacon, there were surprised faces at the breakfast table when they bit into (what??!!) savory muffins. What part of Brie and bacon made you think they would be sweet muffins! I exclaimed.

Cheddar Ham Chive Muffins

Use whatever cheese you have on hand for these wonderful muffins. I prefer an extra mature sharp cheddar but seriously, any semi-hard or hard cheese would do.

Ingredients
5 1/3 oz or 150g thick cut smoked ham
7 oz or 200g extra sharp mature cheddar cheese
2 chives or green onions (about 20g)
2 cups or 250g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (optional but highly recommended)
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml vegetable oil
2 eggs

Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and generously grease your muffin pan or use silicone muffin cups.  If you don't have silicone liners, I would suggest putting the batter into a greased pan rather than paper muffin cups because the cheese in these makes them bake up lovely and browned and crunchy all over. It would stick to a paper liner.

Cut your ham into small squares. Grate half of the cheese with a large hole grater and cut the other half into small cubes. Finely chop the chives.

Separate out just a little of each to top the muffins before baking.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cayenne, if using. Stir in the grated cheddar cheese and the ham.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and oil together. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon or rubber spatula until  they are just combined.

Gently fold in the cheddar cubes. 

Spoon the batter into your very well greased muffin pan or silicone liners. Top each filled cup of batter with the reserved ham, grated cheese and chopped chives.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are looking browned and crispy and delicious and you can't wait another second to eat them.

Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes then use a non-pointy knife to loosen/remove them and the melted cheese from the muffin pan. You don't want to scratch your pan!

Enjoy!

Check out all the other lovely muffins my Muffin Monday bakers are sharing today:

• Cheddar Ham Chive Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Orange Chia Seed Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Pineapple Macadamia Nut Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Triple Chocolate Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Cheddar Ham Chive Muffins!

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