Creamy Ham and Cheese Pasta

WARNING:  This delicious high-carb, high-fat pasta dish will probably go straight to your hind end.  But your taste buds will thank you.  =)

Ingredients:
2T Butter
1 C diced ham
1 C heavy cream
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 C grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp or more garlic herb seasoning
milk for thinning, if necessary
3 C Cooked Penne Rigate’

First of all: let me introduce you to my new best friend:  

McCormick Perfect Pinch Garlic and Herb Seasoning.  It’s salt free, calorie free, and MSG free.  I’ve added this to just about everything lately…mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, scrambled eggs…the list goes on…and includes this tasty dish:

  1. Melt butter in a sauce pan and saute’ diced ham until lightly browned.  (You can skip this step if you’re using leftover ham that has already been baked) 
  2. Add cream.  Bring to a boil, remove from heat.
  3. Add egg yolks, stir until well blended. 
  4. Add mozzarella and parmesan, stir until completely melted and creamy.  
  5. Sprinkle the garlic herb seasoning freely, to taste, of course.  Incorporate well.  
  6. If you find your sauce too thick, return to low/med heat and add some milk, a little at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.  
  7. Serve over pasta or stir in pasta until sauce is evenly distributed. 
So you may see in the introduction photo that I served this with broccoli.  Well…that’s how it started.  THEN…I kind of did this number while I was eating:  (Mmmmmm)
And THIS is what I did with the left-overs:  (Yummmm)
So…Moral of the story is:  If you like broccoli, chop it up and add it in at the beginning with the ham. =)
Enjoy! 

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Mexican and pasta…….a win/win recipe. I used a creamy salsa dip instead of plain salsa and it gave the recipe a nice flavor. My family loved it. I have a chicken version of Mexican stuffed shells that I created. I will blog that at a later date. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning
4 oz. cream cheese
14-16 jumbo pasta shells
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup monterey jack cheese
3 green onions
sour cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely. While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.

2. Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

3. After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed. Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.). Serve with sour cream.

Source: Adapted from “A Pinch of This & That

This entry was posted in Pasta and tagged .