Hello Friends!
Happy Thursday to you. 😊💗
That means it's recipe time again. And today I thought I'd share this ham tetrazzini I made the other day. It was a great use of leftover Easter ham. I had looked at a few different recipes and then made my own recipe with some healthier ingredients. It turned out great! And was even yummier the next day reheated too. While I was cooking the sauce it brought Matt right upstairs (he works from home in our lower level). He said, 'If you could bottle that smell you'd make me a rich man.' So I guess that's a good sign, huh? Lol And then he went on to call me Carrie Crocker and say how he's already a blessed rich man with my cooking. Aawww - I know I sure am blessed to have that ray of sunshine in my life. 💛
But before this gets too sickening 😂 let's move on to this delish dish!
Most tetrazzini dishes have a cream based sauce and use spaghetti or linguini. I did things differently based on what I had and the healthier ingredients I wanted to use. Also, this made a 13x9 pan - as we are sharing some with my Mom. But I think you could easily halve everything too.
I sauteed veggies and aromatics in some olive oil and butter. I then whisked in the ingredients to create the sauce. And once the sauce was well incorporated - I stirred in the ham and peas.
While I was making the sauce I had a pot boiling for the pasta and made that, drained it, put it back in the pot and had set it aside. Once the sauce was done I stirred it into the pot of pasta to stir everything together. I then poured all into a greased 9x13 and topped with cheese and baked it. We had ours with a green salad.
I tried to remember measurements (or guess them when I didn't measure). I'm not always good about worrying about measuring in cooking...so thank you for your patience. But here are the ingredients and how I made this dish to the best of my memory. I used protein pasta, fair life milk (more protein instead of regular milk) and greek yogurt instead of heavy cream. All to be a bit healthier and less fattening rich calories. I know I talk about high protein, but if you read up about it - it's especially beneficial as we age to maintain our muscles and strength as we lose a lot of this as we get older. It's also so good for bone health and immunity. So there are real benefits - not that I'm following a fad. Lol Plus, I've been working out and lifting light weights regularly now and want to support those efforts! 😉 I need to keep fighting this old lady arthritis stuff.
But I believe you should use whatever ingredients work for you and I'll include what some of the more traditional ones would be as well.
INGREDIENTS:
10-12 oz of pasta (traditional is spaghetti - I used high protein rotini)
2 c. or more of cooked cubed ham (could do chicken or turkey too)
1 & 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella, divided (could do 2 c. if want cheesier)
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 c. chopped peppers (but could do more traditional which is mushrooms - we just don't like them)
1/2 of a medium onion, chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic (to your taste)
1 c. chicken stock
1 c. milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. greek yogurt (or you could do heavy cream)
seasonings to your taste: I did salt (but remember lots of salty ingredients with ham and the cheese so be sparing), pepper, thyme and fresh grated nutmeg (so good in cream dishes)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350*
Put pot of water on to boil pasta according to the box directions.
While waiting, or while pasta is boiling, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tbsp each of olive oil and butter. Saute onion and peppers until getting softer and browning a little. Add garlic and saute a minute more. Deglaze pan with the chicken stock. Whisk in the greek yogurt, milk, and the cream of mushroom soup. Season to your taste. Once incorporated well and bubbling, turn down the heat to low. Stir in 1 c. of the shredded cheese, the ham, and the frozen peas.
Whenever pasta is done, drain and put back in pot and set aside. When the sauce is done take off the heat and stir all into the pot of cooked pasta. Pour all into a greased 9x13 pan. Top with 1/2 c. more shredded mozzarella (or do another cup if you want it cheesier). Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes - broiling the last minute until brown and bubbling.
Enjoy with a salad or side dish of choice.
We loved it! It was rich and creamy and was so good leftover too. We will definitely make this again and I think I'll use chicken next time.
Enjoy!
xoxo
