Leftover Gammon (Ham) and Pea pasta bake
This Gammon and Pea pasta bake is a fantastic way to use up all your Gammon/Ham Christmas leftovers. It’s also great for feeding a crowd.
The most wonderful leftovers to have after Christmas is gammon or ham. There’s just so much you can do with it (have a look at my gammon recipes from last year). I had to make gammon for a Christmas shoot recently and had quite a bit leftover and wanted to do something simple but delicious with it. I decided to make a pasta bake for dinner and added sweet petit pois (baby peas) because honestly, ham and peas are a match made in Heaven!
I made a very simple white sauce which I flavoured with freshly ground white pepper and nutmeg and then added the leftover gammon and blanched peas. Mixed with macaroni (or other pasta of your choice) and topped with lots of fior di latte and fresh Parmesan then baked until golden and bubbling. So scrumptious! In fact, I would suggest you ensure you have leftovers just so you can make this pasta the day after Christmas.
Table of Contents
Leftover Gammon (Ham) and Pea pasta bake
Ingredients
for the white sauce
- 150 g butter cubed
- 1 cup flour
- 750 ml-1 litre milk
- pinch of nutmeg
- white pepper and salt to taste
for the pasta bake
- 500 g macaroni
- 1-2 cups chopped left-over gammon
- 1-2 cups blanched baby peas
- 100 g fior di latte or other mozzarella
- 30 g Parmesan grated
Instructions
- To make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk in the flour.
- Slowly pour in the milk whilst continuously whisking to get rid of any lumps.
- Lower the heat and allow the sauce to cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the nutmeg and season to taste.
- While the sauce is cooking, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°c.
- Combine the cooked pasta, gammon and peas with the white sauce then mix well.
- Transfer to a baking dish and top with the mozzarella and parmesan.
- Place in the oven and allow to bake for 15-20 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes then serve.
