I’m pretty sure I mentioned in a previous post that we had a ton of leftover ham from our holiday dinner. I’ve been trying to use it up in different ways including making Ham and Scalloped Potatoes. Unfortunately, my efforts haven’t been making enough of a dent. I’ve still got ham to use. I wanted to make a ham and cheese quiche with some of it for dinner tonight but my spouse vetoed that notion. Instead I decided to try to make a Fettuccine Alfredo with ham and peas. I’d originally intended to make everything for this from scratch including the Alfredo sauce. But I ended up pressed for time and used a jar of store bought alfredo. In my opinion, this was a major error because store bought alfredo is WAY too sweet for my liking and when I added the ham to it the whole thing tasted unbalanced.
So below is the recipe I would’ve used it I hadn’t been pressed for time. This version is likely to be better balanced and highlight the leftover ham better.
Fettuccine Alfredo with ham and peas
- 1 pound Fettuccine Noodles
- 4 tablespoons Butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 cups half and half, at room temperature
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 2 cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 3/4 cup diced ham
- 3/4 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 3/4 cup diced mushrooms
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- In a large skillet, melt butter. Saute mushrooms and onions.
- Add ham to skillet and brown slightly
- Add flour to make a roux.
- Slowly add the half and half a bit at a time.
- Stir continuously adding half and half until sauce thickens
- Add 3/4 of the Parmesan cheese a bit at a time until melts and incorporates into mixture
- Add frozen peas an allow them to warm and incorporate
- Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Drain pasta and immediately add to skillet.
- Toss a couple of times, then sprinkle in the remaining Parmesan.