Last week I cooked a boiled ham dinner and, despite that I had my local butcher cut me a small smoked picnic ham, it still had a lot of meat on it. You can get my method for making a boiled ham dinner here. After sandwiches and leftovers for a few nights, I decided it was time to find another use for the rest of the ham. I am not one to throw out food so I always find ways to use up leftovers.
So, I made what I call a Hawaiian Fiesta Casserole aptly named because, in addition to the ham, it has pineapple, rice, and bright green broccoli florets. This casserole is not difficult to make but it does take a bit of time, planning, and coordination since the rice and broccoli have to be pre-cooked and the pineapple fried (yes, fried).
I use about 7.5 ounces of diced cooked ham for this recipe. Use fresh broccoli if at all possible and only barely cook it. Broccoli cooks super fast and, if it is overcooked, it may go to “mush” when it is baked in the casserole. For this recipe, it needs no more cooking than a minute or two.
Fresh pineapple can be used but I use canned pineapple chunks because I use 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice in the sauce to give it a bit of sweet flavour.
Any kind of cream-based soup can be used in this casserole – cream of celery, broccoli, broccoli and cheese, or mushroom. I often use cream of celery soup as it is a mild soup that doesn’t compete with other flavours in the casserole but the other soups work well, too.
Hawaiian Fiesta Casserole
Ingredients:
½ cup cooked rice
1 – 10 oz can cream of celery soup (or cream soup of choice)
2 tbsp sour cream
1/3 cup milk
½ tbsp liquid chicken bouillon
½ tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
5 oz fresh broccoli florets
7½ oz cooked ham, diced (apx. 1½ cups)
1 cup pineapple chunks, drained (retain ¼ cup of the juice)
½ cup fine bread crumbs
2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
Method:
Cook rice according to package instructions
In large measuring cup, mix the soup, sour cream, milk, pineapple juice, and liquid chicken bouillon together. Set aside.
Melt butter in small frypan over medium high heat. Stir in brown sugar until it melts. Add pineapple chunks and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cook broccoli in boiling salted water over high heat for 1-2 minutes. Do not overcook.
To assemble casserole:
Grease a 1.5 litre casserole dish or, alternatively, spray with cooking oil. Spread cooked broccoli on bottom of casserole dish.
Sprinkle cooked rice on top of broccoli.
Add a layer of pineapple chunks.
Lastly, add the layer of ham.
Pour soup mixture over casserole contents.
In small dish, mix the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese together and sprinkle over casserole.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until top of casserole is lightly tanned and soup starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from oven and let stand for at least 10 minutes to allow casserole to set before serving.
Yield: 4-6 servings
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A casserole filled with a wonderful blend of flavors - ham, rice, broccoli, and pineapple all smothered in a rich creamy sauce.
Ingredients
- ½ cup cooked rice
- 1 – 10oz can cream of celery soup (or cream soup of choice)
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 1/3 cup milk
- ½ tbsp liquid chicken bouillon
- ½ tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 5 oz. fresh broccoli florets
- 7½ oz cooked ham, diced (apx. 1½ cups)
- 1 cup pineapple chunks, drained (retain ¼ cup of the juice)
- ½ cup fine bread crumbs
- 2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package instructions
- In large measuring cup, mix the soup, sour cream, milk, pineapple juice, and liquid chicken bouillon together. Set aside.
- Melt butter in small frypan over medium high heat. Stir in brown sugar until it melts. Add pineapple chunks and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Cook broccoli in boiling salted water over high heat for 1-2 minutes. Do not overcook.
- To assemble casserole:
- Grease a 1.5 litre casserole dish or, alternatively, spray with cooking oil. Spread cooked broccoli on bottom of casserole dish. Sprinkle cooked rice on top of broccoli. Add a layer of pineapple chunks. Lastly, add the layer of ham.
- Pour soup mixture over casserole contents.
- In small dish, mix the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese together and sprinkle over casserole.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until top of casserole is lightly tanned and soup starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from oven and let stand for at least 10 minutes to allow casserole to set before serving.
