Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta

With a number of actions on the calendar every evening of the week, I’m greater than ever searching for fast and family-friendly (learn: my children will find it irresistible) recipes for dinner.

Enter: Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta.

This simple, creamy pasta with ham and peas is filling, completely scrumptious, and a full meal in a bowl. I created the recipe as a method to make use of up leftover Easter ham, however you may make it any time of yr with thick-cut ham steak, which we at all times appear to have available. I like cubing it up for lunchboxes – I’ll share my favourite model beneath.

Like a quick-cooking do-it-yourself mac and cheese, this simple dinner recipe cooks in the identical period of time it takes to boil a field of pasta. Howdy, weeknight dinner hero!

Elements Wanted

All you want are a handful of on a regular basis elements to make this creamy pasta dish. Raid the fridge and pantry for…

• Pasta: I like Jovial brown rice Casarecce for this dish, however any medium-cut pasta like penne, bowties, rotini, and so on will do the trick.
• Ham steak: use leftover vacation ham, or cube up a store-bought ham steak – I like Frick’s model. A top quality model of ham actually does make a distinction!
• Garlic: permeates every chunk with cozy taste.
• Peas: use frozen candy peas – no must thaw first.
• Heavy cream: is the bottom of our dreamy, creamy sauce.
• Parmesan cheese: freshly grate the parmesan with a microplane so it immediately melts into the cream sauce, vs utilizing pre-grated.

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

1. Quick: together with prep and cook dinner time, Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta will go from fridge to desk in below half-hour. Plus, because it has protein, carbs, and veggies, it’s a full meal in a bowl — no further sides wanted.
2. Household pleasant: in case your children are something like mine, pasta is an automated YES for dinner. In addition they love ham and peas (bless them as a result of I grew up HATING peas) plus the cream sauce provides it a comfortable mac and cheese vibe.
3. Versatile: I take advantage of gluten free pasta, however you need to use no matter medium-cut pasta you’ve obtained within the pantry. This dish is as unfussy because it will get! If you could eat dairy free, go for vegan butter, plant-based heavy cream, and vegan parmesan cheese.
4. Basic: because of butter, garlic, cream, and parmesan cheese, this recipe is whole consolation meals and proves you don’t want a ton of elements to make a brilliant satisfying dish. Simply the proper combo of straightforward ones.

Alrighty, able to get this simple pasta dish on the desk?

Serve with Air Fryer Asparagus

The way to Make This Recipe

Step 1: Prepare dinner the pasta.

Begin by including a beneficiant palmful of salt to a big pot of boiling water then add pasta and cook dinner till it’s simply shy of al dente. The pasta will end cooking within the parmesan cream sauce.

Earlier than draining the pasta, fastidiously scoop out a cup or so of the pasta cooking water so as to add to the sauce on the finish. This serves 2 functions:

1. The salted water seasons the dish.
2. The starches within the water assist the parmesan-cream sauce cling to the pasta.

Step 2: Cube the ham.

Subsequent, cube up a 1lb bone-in ham steak. Once more, I extremely advocate Frick’s. Leftovers out of your vacation ham are good too.

You’ll want ~12oz of diced ham steak, which is round 2-1/2 cups.

Step 3: Saute the ham and peas.

Soften butter inside a big skillet with excessive sides over medium-high warmth. Add the diced ham then saute till it’s scorching, 3-4 minutes. Subsequent add minced garlic then saute till aromatic, one other minute (your kitchen will odor insane proper about now!)

Add frozen peas then saute till they’re scorching, 1-2 extra minutes.

Step 4: Make the cream sauce.

To the skillet add heavy whipping cream then convey to a simmer and cook dinner for 2-3 minutes or till the cream has barely decreased and thickened.

Lastly, add freshly grated parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper then stir to soften the cheese into the sauce.

Step 5: Mix the pasta and sauce.

Add the pasta into the skillet with with a splash of pasta cooking water then cook dinner whereas stirring till the pasta is tender and the sauce clings to the pasta, 4-5 minutes.

Let the pasta sit and the sauce thicken for about 5 minutes, then dish it on up!

That’s all she wrote!

Leftovers reheat completely in a bowl within the microwave — and truly, style actually good chilly.

Irrespective of when or the way you make it, I hope you like each chunk of this unbelievable and straightforward Creamy Ham and Peas Pasta – get pleasure from!

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Photographs by Ashley McLaughlin

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