Name: Easy Ham and Cheese Pasta Bake
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 onion, thinly sliced; 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided; 2 cups leftover ham, cut into bit sized pieces* (see notes); 1/4 cup dry white wine (or you could use chicken broth); 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese – we used a blend of cheddar and Monterey Jack; 1/2 cup cream — heavy cream or coconut creamer works; 1 1/2 cups steamed broccoli, optional (or other cooked vegetable on hand); 10 ozs pasta — short shape such as elbows

Easy Ham and Cheese Pasta Bake

Ham and cheese pasta bake in a black skillet.

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★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

This Easy Ham and Cheese Pasta Bake recipe is a great way to use leftover ham! Just a few ingredients is all you need for the savory leftover ham pasta bake.

Author: Cooking Chat
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Yield: 5 servings 1x
Category: main
Method: stove top + baking
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

1 onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cups leftover ham, cut into bit sized pieces* (see notes)
1/4 cup dry white wine (or you could use chicken broth)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese – we used a blend of cheddar and Monterey Jack
1/2 cup cream — heavy cream or coconut creamer works
1 1/2 cups steamed broccoli, optional (or other cooked vegetable on hand)
10 ozs pasta — short shape such as elbows

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet (oven proof unless you are going to transfer to a casserole dish for baking). Add the onion, and cook on medium heat for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the onion to start turning brown (caramelizing).
Start cooking the pasta according to package instructions as the onion cooks. Cook the pasta al dente — so that it is just tend — as it will continue to cook in the oven. Drain the pasta when done and toss with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Set aside.
Stir the leftover ham along with 1/4 cup of cooking wine into the skillet with the onions. Heat on medium low, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
Add the pasta to skillet (see notes) stirring to combine the pasta with the ham and onions. Stir in 1 cup of the shredded cheese, along with the cream and broccoli, if using. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese over the top of the pasta and ham, along with the breadcrumbs.
Bake the pasta. Cover the skillet or casserole dish, and place in the oven. Bake covered for 10 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for another 5 minutes. You can switch to broil for another minute or two at the end to brown the cheese more if you like. Remove carefully from oven, and serve hot. Enjoy!

Notes

Baking pasta in a skillet or casserole dish: If you have a large, oven proof skillet with a cover, using the same skillet to cook the onion and to bake pasta is convenient. However, you can also transfer the ham and pasta combination to a casserole dish for baking if that works better for what you have available.
Amount of ham: we list 2 cups of ham, based on what we used. But you can vary it based on what is available, but ideally will have at least 1 1/2 cups.
Adding vegetables brings color and nutrition to the dish. It’s also a good way to use veggies that might be leftover from your ham dinner. We enjoyed the ham pasta bake with broccoli. Peas or green beans could also work well.
You could skip the cream if you want.

Keywords: leftover ham recipes, ham and cheese pasta, easy ham and cheese pasta bake

Find it online: https://cookingchatfood.com/ham-and-cheese-pasta-bake/