Recipe for Ham and Cheese Macaroni Soup

This is a comfort food that was one of my father's favorites. If you like sharp cheddar cheese you will love this recipe, but if you don't like sharp cheese you can use the milder brands, and you can use Velveeta processed cheese if you want to. I have made it with sharp and processed cheese and both are very good.

I like to use canned ham in this, but if you have any left over ham from another meal you can dice that ham up also. I've even used SPAM in this soup when I was totally out of money and had to make do with what I had. I am nothing, if not resourceful.

Here is what you need to make ham and cheese macaroni soup:

1 pound of elbow macaroni (or any shape you like best)
2 and 1/2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese (I use Cabot cheese, but you can use any kind you like)
2 and 1/2 cups of diced ham
1 and 1/2 quarts of V-8 Juice (or tomato juice if you prefer)

Here is what you do:

Boil the macaroni until it is almost done and drain it. Return the drained macaroni into the skillet and add the V-8 juice , ham and cheese. Cook on low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the ham is hot.

Note: when melted, cheddar cheese is sort of stringy in the soup. It has a wonderful texture. If you like cheese you will love this. This soup sticks to your ribs. I like to top my soup with a little hot sauce and crackers.

Enjoy!