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.
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.
I’m so glad I came across this recipe. I use it each year after Christmas now, and it is delicious!. I add turkey and gammon to mine, cut into chucks and replace peas with broccoli. (not a pea lover) It’s a massive hit in my house. Thank you!
Is this freezable once cooked?
It would be better to freeze before baking the pasta bake but you can definitely freeze once baked too.
Brilliant dish! I made a cauliflower white sauce with it and used less pasta but more leftovers and peas. Increased the amount of mozzarella too!
Had too much left over gammon from last Sunday and needed an idea what to do with it, so I googled it and found this recepi on Pintrest. It was absolutely gorgeous and the gammon even tasted nicer the day after in this dish, defenately keeping this one and thank you for sharing.
Tastes amazing. Thank you for sharing.
I haven’t made yet but can’t wait until tomorrow when we sit down to this delicious recipe. Thanks for helping me find the answer.
I hope you loved it!
It’s about to come out the oven and it smells amazing! I can’t wait to eat it it was lovely and simple to make too!
Hope you loved it!
This looks divine, and beautiful photos!
Thank you so much Christina!