Ham and Peas Pasta with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce
The perfect way to use up all your leftover ham! It is amazingly creamy, comforting and kid-friendly!
Is it just me or are the leftovers really the best part about the holidays?
For me, it’s the ham leftovers. You serve it with your scrambled eggs for breakfast, or you make midday sandwiches to get you through that work crunch.
And now, with ALDI’s Appleton Farms Spiral Sliced Hickory Smoked Honey Ham, you can have even more.
This ham is budget-friendly, serves an army of at least 7-10, and is incredibly easy to serve.
And IF you happen to have any leftovers, you can have it in pasta-form, involving my favorite garlic parmesan cream sauce with the award-winning Priano Parmesan cheese.
So it’s basically the gold of all cream sauces.
It really is.
I also added some green peas. Because we need a little color in our dish.
Not only that, it takes just minutes to whip up with your leftover ham!
Ham and Peas Pasta with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 ounces SimplyNature Organic Spaghetti
- ¼ cup Countryside Creamery unsalted butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons Baker’s Corner all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Chef’s Cupboard chicken broth, or more, as needed
- 1 teaspoon Stonemill dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon Stonemill dried basil
- ½ cup Countryside Creamery half and half
- ½ cup freshly grated Priano Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups chopped Appleton Farms Spiral Sliced Hickory Smoked Honey Ham
- 1 cup Season’s Choice Frozen Sweet Peas
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- To make the garlic parmesan cream sauce, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in chicken broth, thyme and basil. Cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in half and half and Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more half and half as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in spaghetti, ham and peas, and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by ALDI. As always, I only partner with brands that I love and truly believe in, allowing me to create more quick and easy recipes to get us through the week without breaking the bank. All opinions expressed are my own.
Crowd pleaser! Rich enough to appease the adults at the table. Mild enough to appeal to the young kiddos. Everyone at the table devoured! And based on comments, it’s a great base to get creative. But I really enjoyed the recipe as written. I love having another way to use leftover ham. I feel like it rots in my freezer after a while. …not anymore!!! Oh, I did make one slight modification. I mixed half wheat pasta and half regular. I like having the softness of the white, but the creamy flavor pairs well with the nutty bite of whole wheat.
This was an amazing way to use uo my leftover ham from New years dinner! Thank you so much for this recipe!
I guess I just don’t like thyme. Tastes like dirt to me. And I only used half the recommended amount. The base idea of the recipe is pretty good. I might try it again without thyme.
Followed most of the recipe except:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 yellow onion (small) finely diced
[with the garlic, sautéed then added the butter]
1/2 cup of mushrooms
[continue to cook until soft]
followed rest of directions, but added with liquid:
1/2 cup of Pinot Grigio (or other dry white wine)
added with the cheese:
1/4 cup of mozzarella
The sauce was a bit thick so I added a splash of each of the 3 liquids to help thin it out! It turned out amazing! Thank you!!
I used Spam, increased the sauce and added sliced olives and my husband loves it.
So good! Easy and quick to make for a weeknight dinner. My family loves this dish and so do I. Perfect dish to make with the leftover ham.
Stir in frozen peas and serve?
Damn Delicious, I love your recipes! Made this tonight using the last of the never-ending Christmas ham. It was so good! Next time I may skip the peas, as I could live without them, and that seemed to be the thing that freaked my family out.
This is so delicious! Perfect for leftover Christmas ham. My son and I were thinking of lots of different veggies that would be tasty in this: broccoli, zucchini, spinach, asparagus. Maybe we’ll even try with it chicken sometime.
the details regarding the use of milk and cream appear to be missing, I suspect they are used prior to step 3, as part of makng the roue, has been left out
Please refer to step 3. Hope that helps!
3. Gradually whisk in chicken broth, thyme and basil. Cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in half and half and Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more half and half as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Very delicious and easy to throw together!
Very good! My only deviation was making extra sauce (because my family loves sauce) and using mozzarella cheese. I thought I had Parmesan but discovered I was out when I was past the point of no return. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I can’t rate this recipe fairly because I didn’t cook it as written. But I know that all of Chungah’s Damn Delicious recipes are amazing and never, ever disappoint. I didn’t have a full cup of parmesan so I added some mozzarella too. I didn’t have the dried herbs, so I used Italian seasoning instead. I didn’t have half and half so I used light cream instead. BUT, Chungah’s recipes are always perfection so I knew that a little tweek here and there would still make an amazing meal. And it did! My whole family said it was one of the best meals I’ve made! They said it’s a keeper and I need to put it in the rotation. So, again, Thank you Damn Delicious for this top notch recipe! Much appreciated!
Oh my – what can I say this was AMAZING!!! Definitely a keeper.
The ham doesn’t feed an “ARMY” OF 7-10 PEOPLE. I have 13 brothers and sisters and it doesn’t feed 6 people. I made the recipe and quadrupled it and cooked 2 of the hams with it. Next time I will make 3 of the recipes and cook 2 hams. The pasta was good, but I am not a basil fan so I didn’t add the basil and added salt to taste. Not bad.
I made this tonight because we had leftover ham and fresh noodles. It was delicious! Thank you so much Chungah!
I just made this the other day and it was OUTSTANDING! Restaurant quality, really impressive. Thank you!
Delicious use of leftover Christmas ham.
Really good.
My husband loved it. Would not change a thing.
Excellence recipe, my Family’s favorite
I love this recipe. We get honey baked ham every year for Christmas and Easter and the leftover ham is perfect for this recipe!
Simple, light and delicious! You may wonder how this dish could be called light with the cream and butter…but, it is. The sauce isn’t too heavy, and it gives the fusili (I used corkscrew shapes) pasta a nice bath in garlicy sauce. I used fresh (cooked) peas, cubes of ham from a ham steak, and the rest of the recipe items…and, I added some sliced scallions and fresh cherry tomatoes at the end, boiling the pasta until the cherry tomatoes just burst open. So very delicious!
I moaned the entire meal. Really. It’s true! This recipe was amazing! But, I have to admit, I didn’t have the exact ingredients so I changed it up, but the base (sauce) was the key. I have fresh sugar snap peas from the garden so I used them. I also have fresh basil and thyme so I used that instead of dried. And I added prosciutto. And I only had heavy cream – no 1/2 & 1/2 so the cream made it extra creamy. Really. I moaned throughout the entire meal. Thank you! This was Damn Delicious!!! (Your recipes always rock! They are always a huge hit in my house.)
Loved it! Final dinner using our leftover Easter ham. I did add about 1/2 an onion with the garlic. The only pasta we had was cheese tortellini, so used that. Went well with the sauce. Next time I will try with spaghetti. Thanks for the recipe.
I just made this and I got a thumbs-up from my picky eater. I made a couple modifications… I used fettuccine that I made fresh, and I typically use heavy cream even when a recipe calls for half and half. I read through the instructions a couple times before I made the decision to heat through my peas with the chopped ham before adding them. I did not want to add frozen peas and it made sense to take the chill off the ham as well. All turned out awesome.
Wow – very tasty! Perfect thing to do with leftover Easter ham.
We had this last night in an attempt to use previously frozen ham left over from a catered Christmas dinner. The ham wasn’t good then, and I was hoping this recipe would mask that. NOPE!
We loved everything about this dish EXCEPT that nasty ham ruined it for us.
I caution you to use good quality baked ham.
Next time, with different ham, we will make half the recipe because there are only two of us.
I was looking for something to do with my ham steak, beyond just serving the ham with sides or incorporating it into bean/lentil soup, and this met my need perfectly. I did add a splash of white wine before the chicken broth, and instead of peas (which I didn’t have), I used 1 cup frozen corn and 8 oz of frozen broccoli. The broccoli was microwaved since I thought the frozen pieces were too big to thaw in the sauce, and the corn I just threw in frozen like the peas would have been. Rave reviews by the anti-ham person in my household; this recipe is a keeper!
Awesome meal. Twisted the recipe with water and a “dash” of white wine instead of chicken stock, plus used sprial pasta instead of spaghetti. Dont think we have half and half in Australia so thankyou for the notes of an equivalent. Great way to use some of the leftover Christmas ham. My family were asking for more 🙂
I’m not the best or most experienced cook, but these directions were great and it turned out super yummy!!!
We cooked this in our cast-iron pan & it turned out nice. A few substitutions:
Minced garlic vs ME thin sliced garlic added after the mushrooms are sautéed (to prevent burning)
2 tablespoons Flour vs ME 1.5
Thyme & basil vs ME herb de providence
Half & half vs ME So Delicious Coconut Milk
1 cup + of broth vs ME only 1 cup
My fiance said he wished it had more cream sauce should’ve added more coconut milk & broth. A keeper recipe
for leftover seafood, chicken & ham.
Going to try the cream ham sauce drizzled on baked spaghetti squash nest next time.
This was delicious! I used penne instead of spaghetti (upon request) and I took the thyme down to 1/2 teaspoon (because I wasn’t sure how the flavor would go over with the sensitive palate of the penne requester…) and I used deli sliced ham because it’s what I had on hand (used 1 cup instead of 2 due to the thin slice) but all in all, this was excellent (even for the sensitive palate lol.) I will definitely be making this again! Thank you!
I really liked this, I think next time I will sub out ham for chicken, just bc my family isn’t big on ham.
But it was easy to make and I had most of the ingredients already (except the ham)
I think its delicious.
Yummy, great use of leftover Easter ham & whatever else in house.
Made with diced zucchini (didn’t have peas) and whole milk because I didn’t have half and half …. SO good! Even my picky 5 year old and 3 year old loved it! Definitely a keeper!!!
Just made this with some fresh peas I was given, and it was so delicious ! Restaurant quality for sure!
Made this a few days ago and MAN was it delicious. I had a rather sweet glazed ham so when I first ate it, I thought the flavors were kind of strange together but I still liked it. I just ate the leftovers for lunch today and HOLY MOLY it was fab. The sweetness of the glaze had time to meld together with the other flavors in the refrigerator and I had to stop myself from eating all of my leftovers. Thank you for this recipe!
I made this with leftover ham (made with your maple glazed ham recipe). It was easy and delicious.
First time making this dish , great way to repurpose ham ! Family loved it !
Doubled the recipe to accommodate 1-lb of pasta and only substituted heavy cream fir the half ‘n half as it was all I had on hand.
Quick, Easy and Delicious. A keeper for sure!
Loved it. I cut left over ham and left over roasted chicken in julienne strips to add 2 this receipe. That is it. Follow your receipe….OMG!!! DELICIOUS!!! Thank you
Wow! I was looking for a recipe using pasta, ham and parm and I hit the jackpot. Made as is except I only used 1/2 t of thyme and basil. Will definitely make again as I always have cubed ham in my freezer. Thanks for such a delicious and easy recipe for weekday suppers. I have enough to freeze and have another night.
This was delicious but you weren’t kidding when you said it would feed an army. I used tortellini instead of spaghetti. Do you think I could freeze the leftovers?
Tasty. My wife usually makes a similar dish but different recipe. So, I was a little nervous the kids wouldn’t like it. Made some modifications based on what we had in the house. Used a combo of prosciutto & bacon instead of ham and a different kind of pasta. It was a hit. Think the roux made the difference.
Do you add the peas frozen in step four?
I made this with left overs from Christmas. My husband has celiac disease so I made some modifications and it turned out fantastic! I used gluten free spaghetti and Pamela’s AP flour for the roux. Finally, I used whole milk instead of half and half, mainly because I purchase it for one recipe and then waste the rest. I’m sure it wasn’t as creamy as the original recipe, but it wasn’t missed. I will definitely make this dish again. I might try broccoli next time in place of peas.
Made this last night with our leftover ham and everyone loved it! My mom asked me to forward her the recipe Definitely a keeper!
This was so easy and good!!! Left out the seasonings since we don’t like either one. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Great way to use up leftover ham!!
Yum! I needed a quick dinner using what I could find in my kitchen and this was a great use for my leftover Easter ham. I added some mushrooms since they were in the fridge. I also replaced the basil with dill and added the zest of one lemon. I had some really good feta I wanted to top it with and thought the flavors would mesh better. So good! The 2.5 year old devoured it also.
Thanks for sharing your version with us, Rose! Sounds delicious!
Am I the only one that thought this recipe was exceptionally over spiced? I didn’t put in as much thyme or basil as the recipe called for and I still had to take half of the finished pasta and rinse off all the sauce to try and salvage it- and even then it still tasted way over spiced. I thought it was an easy and delicious recipe (minus all the basil and thyme) though, and a great way to use up our leftover Easter ham. I’ll definitely be making this again with a few changes!
very delicious dinner; used up our Easter ham! we enjoyed it very much and didn’t change a thing!
It’s delicious and so easy!! I definitely recommend it to university/college students, it’s a great chance to get familiar with cooking.. I was also surprised with how fast it’s done!
That’s so great, Nikol! Thanks for sharing!
I made it almost exactly as in the recipe, except that I used whole milk instead of heavy cream, because that was the only one I had. It was a hit! My boys, who are 4 and 1.5 year olds loved it. Even my husband, who doesn’t like pasta dishes in general, went for seconds and thirds! So, thank you so much for this recipe. This one’s a keeper in our house now.
Thank you for sharing!
This is absolutely delicious! Had some leftover ham and used that and milk instead of half and half (doubled to add a bit more creaminess).
That sounds yummy!
Wow, so many popups and video on your recipe pages. It takes away from your beautiful images and yummy recipes. What happened?
This is how we can assure that all recipes are available for free for our amazing readers/followers.
I really love white sauce compared to red sauce because the latter is too acidic for me. My tummy can’t tolerate too much of it. Anyway, I tried this recipe and it tasted so good! Thanks for sharing.
Great!
This is JUST what I’ve been craving. I used to love the pea and ham pasta salad at Applebee’s garden bar but all our Applebee’s closed down (boo!). This is delish! I used heavy whipping cream because I hate worrying about my half and half breaking, so I just reduced the amount of flour I used. I also added 1/2 an onion because I had it sitting in the fridge and didn’t want it to go to waste. Thanks for the recipe!
Great, Valerie! Thanks for sharing with us!
Giving this a shot tonight, although I might try diced pancetta instead of ham.
Can you recommend a different veggie to use instead of peas? My daughter isn’t a big fan of them. Thanks!
You can substitute broccoli but please be mindful of cooking time.
I bet it would be good with zucchini as well (again, they will cook faster than brocolli).
Do you cook the peas before adding them to the rest of the ingredients?
No, there’s no need to. It will cook through with the rest of the ingredients.
I have made this similar but used spinach noodles. Very yummy.
Do you cook the frozen peas before adding them?
No, you do not.
Also, it looks like three different ingredients are under one bullet above in the recipe?
Thanks for telling us Jody! I fixed it.
Is there nutritional information for this recipe? It would be great if that actually printed at the end of the recipe for meal planning as my son is a T1 diabetic.
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
This is what I found for the nutritional facts:
Calories 500 (per serving)
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 23.4g 30%
Saturated Fat 13.1g 65%
Cholesterol 135mg 45%
Sodium 528mg 23%
Total Carbohydrate 43.1g 16%
Dietary Fiber 2.6g 9%
Total Sugars 2.5g
Protein 28.1g
Vitamin D 8mcg 40%
Calcium 193mg 15%
Iron 4mg 21%
Potassium 279mg 6%
Delicious! Made this last night with leftover Christmas ham. Love your recipes!!
Looks delicious!
Is there a way I can make this with soy or almond milk?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, we cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I actually have made this with almond milk creamer and it’s delicious
Great recipe! I fix this over and over. I usually forgo 1/2&1/2 and just use alfredo sauce from a jar. Shameless cheater I know… :O
This looks delicious I can hardly wait for my left overs.
Let me tell you I am NOT a very good cook, at all but with easy recipes by Chungah she is helping me get better everyday. I just wanted to say Thank you so much…..my family thanks you too!! LOL.