Mandy's Recipe Box

Where a balance diet is a dessert in each hand

Cheesy Baked Penne with Ham

by


I was going through Recipe Girl‘s site and came across this incredible dish. Cheesy Baked Penne. Cheesy is the word that caught my eye. That’s all I needed to know. I make this dish when I have ham to use up. I also buy ham just to make this. It is so creamy and gooey. It is a must make in my kitchen. If you try it, it will be on your “make again” list. I tweaked it a little to suit our taste.

Ingredients
Sauce:
4 cups 2% milk
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 freshly ground pepper, to taste
 Pasta:
1 pound penne pasta, cooked al dente
1 cup frozen peas
1 ½ cups diced ham
1 cup diced provolone cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
  •  Heat milk in a medium saucepan until small bubbles form around the edges.
  •  In a larger saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. 
  • Add flour and stir well; continue to cook, stirring, until thick and smooth, about 2 minutes. 
  • Slowly begin adding hot milk to the large saucepan, whisking constantly while adding. Sauce will start out lumpy and become smooth as milk is incorporated. 
  • Stir in freshly ground pepper. 
  • Turn heat up to medium and bring sauce to a simmer for an additional 2 minutes. 
  • Remove from heat and set aside while you prepare the pasta.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  •  Butter a shallow 2 1/2-quart baking dish.(I used a 9×13 dish)
  •  In a large bowl, toss cooked pasta with the sauce. Stir in peas, ham, provolone and ¾ cup of the grated Parmesan.
  •  Scrape the mixture into the baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.
  • Cover with aluminum foil and bake 25 minutes. 
  • Uncover and bake until sauce is bubbling around the edges and the center is hot (about 10 minutes more). 
  • Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

I cannot get over that cheesy goodness! It’s not exaggerated. At all.
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Comments

  5. looks great – I make a casserole that's very similar and it's one of my favorites – ham, peas and cheese – a great combo!

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