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Meaty with a dash of veggies

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Noodles Holiday leftovers Lunch / Dinner Main Courses One Bowl Meals Snacks

Creamy ham and veggies pasta

Published: 11.26.2021 » Last updated: 01.09.2023

Got leftover ham from the holidays? Get creative and make this exceptionally luscious creamy ham and veggies pasta. Cooks in ten minutes flat.

Creamy ham and veggies pasta in dark blue scalloped bowl

Ten minutes? Seriously? Yes. The trick here is to saute the vegetables and ham in one pan while the pasta cooks in another. By the time the pasta is done, all you need to do is scoop out the noodles and dump them into the pan with the ham and vegetables.

If you want to shorten the cooking time even more, precook pasta and store in the fridge. That should take the stress out of feeding unexpected holiday guests too. By using precooked pasta, the cooking time for this dish will be shorter than ten minutes. Here’s how.

Boiling pasta in salted water

Boil your pasta as usual but undercook it by a minute or two. That’s to make sure that the noodles won’t get overcooked when tossed in the sauce later.

Tossing cooked pasta in butter

Drain the pasta, dump into a mixing bowl and, while hot, add butter or olive oil (depending on what sauce you intent to toss the noodles in later). Toss throughly to make sure that every strand of noodle is coated with oil.

Cool the pasta, transfer to a covered container and keep in the fridge. It will stay good for up to four days. It may stay good longer but we use precooked pasta within four days so that’s the figure I can safely recommend.

To use the precooked pasta, take the container out of the fridge while you heat your sauce. Add the noodles to the simmering sauce, toss and cook just until heated through.

The sauce is a simple affair. While it is the cream that gives the dish a lovely richness, it is the ham and vegetables that provide the flavor base.

Sauteeing carrot and ham in butter

Among the three vegetables in this dish, carrot takes longest to cook. So, start by gently cooking your carrot in butter. Medium to medium-low heat so that the butter does not scorch. A few minutes are all that the carrot needs to start softening. Even before the carrot is fully cooked, add the ham and toss until heated through.

Adding bell peppers and peas to carrot and ham in pan

If your ham has a generous amount of fat, you’ll want to wait a bit to allow that fat to liquefy. Add bell pepper and cook for a minute in the combined ham fat and butter. Then, toss in the peas.

Adding pasta and sour cream to ham and vegetables in pan

When the peas are heated through, add your undercooked pasta and toss thoroughly. Pour in the sour cream and cook, tossing, until the the dish has lost its soupy appearance. That happens after your undercooked pasta has soaked up most of it, and the remainder has thickened sufficiently to coat the noodles.

Full recipe below

Creamy Ham and Veggies Pasta

Connie Veneracion
Add color to an otherwise pale-looking pasta dish by using bright vegetables. Carrot, bell pepper and peas will not only give the dish better flavor but will also make it more visually festive.
How much salt the dish needs depends on how salty the ham is to start with. If you want to sprinkle grated cheese over the cooked dish, use even less salt after the noodles, ham, vegetables and sour cream have been tossed together.
Creamy ham and veggies pasta
Print
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 15 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine International
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 120 grams pasta
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ⅓ cup chopped carrot
  • 2 cups chopped ham
  • ⅓ cup chopped bell pepper
  • ⅓ cup sweet peas
  • ¾ to 1 cup sour cream - depending on how saucy you want your pasta dish
  • pepper

Instructions
 

  • Cook the pasta in lightly salted water.
  • While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a another pan and saute the carrot for a minute to start softening it.
  • Add the chopped ham and cook, stirring often, until the ham has rendered a little fat.
  • Add the chopped bell peppers, stir and cook for a minute.
  • Stir in the peas and cook for another minute.
  • Drain the pasta and dump into the pan with the ham and vegetables. Toss to coat the noodles with the mixture of butter and ham fat.
  • Pour in the sour cream and cook, tossing, for a minute or so.
  • Add pepper, toss, taste and add salt, if needed.
  • Serve your creamy ham and veggies pasta sprinkled with chopped parsley.
Print
Keyword Ham, Pasta, Sour cream, Vegetables

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Connie Veneracion, Chiang Mai, 2020

Hi, I’m Connie!

Welcome to Umami Days, a blog that advocates innovative home cooking for pleasurable everyday dining. No trendy diets, no food fads and definitely no ludicrous recipe names like crustless quiche, noodleless pho or chocolate lasagna.

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