What to Do with the Ham Bone: 5 Spanish Recipes

You've finished slicing the ham, you're looking at the bare bone, and your hand heads straight for the trash. Stop right there.

That bone still holds months of curing, intramuscular fat, and collagen, just waiting to become the best broth of your week.

How to Prepare and Store the Bone

Cut the bone into pieces of 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) to get the most flavor out of it. If you won't be using it soon, freeze it well wrapped or vacuum-sealed.

Before cooking, blanch it in boiling water for a few minutes and discard that water to reduce impurities and excess salt.

Five Flavor-Packed Ideas

Ham Bone Broth: The Base for Everything

Place the blanched bone in a pot with cold water, leek, carrot, and celery. Simmer over very low heat for two to three hours, never letting it boil hard.

Then strain, let it cool, and skim off the fat that rises to the surface. Freeze it in portions, because you'll need it for the other recipes.

Cocido with Ham Bone

The bone is a classic in Madrid-style, Cantabrian, and Andalusian cocido. As it cooks alongside the chickpeas, its collagen combines with the starch from the legumes to produce a full-bodied broth.

That said, watch the salt. And don't throw the bone out when you're done, because it still has life left for one last recipe.

Ham Croquettes with Infused Béchamel

Use the bone broth to give your béchamel more flavor, and add the finely chopped repelo, the tender meat left clinging to the bone after cooking.

This gives you croquettes with a more intense, evenly distributed ham flavor in every bite.

Stewed Lentils with Ham Bone

Start with a sofrito of onion, pepper, and garlic, then add paprika, the lentils, and a chopped piece of bone, and cover with water or your broth. Cook until the lentils are tender.

The bone lends them depth and an almost silky texture, the kind you appreciate in winter.

Castilian Soup with Bone Broth

Brown some sliced garlic in oil, add stale bread and paprika, and cover everything with the ham broth. Let it simmer gently for a few minutes and top with a poached egg.

It's the humblest recipe of them all and, probably, the one that lets your broth shine the most.

The Fat: The Bonus Almost Nobody Uses

Fat trimmings get a second life too.

Melt them over low heat, store the resulting fat in a sealed jar in the fridge, and use it by the teaspoon to fry potatoes, cook eggs, or kick off a stew.

A tiny amount adds a huge amount of aroma.

Waste Nothing

A good ham is used down to the bone. At ARC Imports you'll find Iberian and Serrano hams imported from Spain, with a cutting service so you can make the most of every part.