Wild Rice Chowder
Kitchen Tested 
- Yield servings
A great main-dish soup that uses leftover ham.
You can bypass whatever vegetables you don't have in the house and skip the cheese. I like kale in this soup because it's hearty and chewy and stands up to the firm-textured wild rice, but you can use any kind of green. You could use a lower fat milk, but it can break during cooking. Cream is a bit too rich. For me whole milk is the perfect addition here. Combining it with flour stabilizes it and thickens the soup. This is a great main dish soup. Just add bread, and a salad.—Jill Melton.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 ounces ham or bacon, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 cup uncooked wild or brown rice
- 2 cups chicken or beef broth
- 4 cups water
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups whole milk
- 2 ounces shredded Comte, Gruyere or Swiss cheese
- 2 ounces shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- Salt and pepper
- 3 cups coarsely chopped fresh kale
Instructions
- Combine first 6 ingredients (oil through garlic) in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Saute until browned, about 10 minutes. Add rice; saute 2 minutes. Add broth and water. Simmer until rice in done, about 40 minutes. Combine flour with 2 cups milk, whisk well. Add to soup. Add remaining milk. Cook until soup is thickened, about 15 minutes. Add cheese, salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes. Add kale and cook 5 minutes.
