Update 5/2011: So, after making this meal for over three years now, I always (always!) chuckle when my husband always (always!) says to me after taking the first couple bites, “Man, this stuff is tasty.” And I remind him that we’ve eaten it at least 25 times and he reminds me that he knows that – he just likes to reaffirm it’s tastiness. Simple and quick to put together, this is hands down my favorite way to use up ham leftovers. I find myself wanting to buy a 20-pound ham….just to have the leftovers to make this delicious pasta.
Ham and Pasta Skillet Dinner
Printable Version
Printable Version with Picture
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound small tube or shell pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups fully cooked ham, diced
1 large sweet red pepper, diced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or chicken stock
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Cook pasta according to package directions – only cooking until al dente since pasta will continue to cook and soak up liquid when added to the skillet. While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat until butter is melted. Add pepper, onion, and garlic and cook until vegetables are tender, about 4-6 minutes. Add ham, basil and oregano and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in broth (or stock) and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half (at first it looks like it will be way to “brothy” but never fear, if you are patient, it will reduce!). Stir drained pasta into ham and vegetable mixture. Add 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and toss. Sprinkle parsley and remaining parmesan cheese over the top of the pasta. Serve immediately.
Recipe Source: adapted from Lydia’s Blog
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
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I like this pasta recipe with ham. It can be made as a fresh dish or with leftover pork. Thus no food will be wasted. Thanks a lot !!
This looks so good! I like ham in omelets, quiche etc but I’m not a big ham sandwich fan. This is great – now I’ll now what to do with leftovers! Nothing beats the looks of those double chocolate cookies though
I have leftover ham in my fridge right now that is just asking to be made into this dish. The thought of just reheating the ham and eating as is does not sound appetizing. My kids rate my recipes by thumbs up, thumbs sideways or thumbs down. This recipe has noodles and parmesan cheese so I bet this will get a thumbs up with my kids!
Sorry to as such a dumb question, but what is the best kind of ham to use do you think? I rarely cook with ham.
I will defintley be trying this recipe. My husband loves dishes like this. Thanks for another great meal Idea
I just made a pork loin last night. This gives me ideas for leftovers. Looks good.
Ok- So I’m just going to have to have you take all the food pictures from here on out! You are so good at it- how do you make it looks so good! You are quite the cook! Glad you tried out the recipe- and obviously improved on it!
Yet another one of your recipes that I am adding to my “to try” list. I just love your blog!
That does sound really good and so easy–right up my alley this month, too!
This was yummy. We had it for dinner tonight and loved it! I had diced some ham and put it in the freezer after Christmas and it made this dinner so quick and easy to make. Thanks for sharing!
Mmmmm… that look soooo good and comforting!
Ang – that is funny that you had the ingredients for this but not the spaghetti pie. I’m glad you liked it – thanks for taking the time to let me know (especially since we know our kids go downhill once we get on the computer!)
So I ended up making this last night…I happened to have ham and a red pepper on hand, but no cottage cheese…wierd, I know. Anyway, we made it with angel hair pasta instead just because I was trying not to go to the store, and it was really yummy. The flavor was really good and hard to explain…peppers, lemon, cheezy, ham…kind-of amazing that it all works together, but it did and we loved it. AND our house smelled like Olive Garden all night! Love it!!!
That is funny- I am at my parents and somehow I am signed on under my moms account- but that last one was from me: Lydia
Mel, this looks awesome. We had ham last night and have extra so I was hoping to make this tonight. However, the boys all voted for “green eggs and ham” so hopefully we’ll have some leftover ham again soon.
Thanks. I’ve never actually cooked a ham myself so the likelihood that I would have leftovers is slim. Thanks for the idea about asking the deli. I’ll do just that. I’m looking forward to trying this. It is on my two week menu.
I made this last night and LOVED it. Also, my husband gave it a 10. AND, my 2 year old ate it right up. You cannot possibly understand the miracle that this is. You are a saint.
Mel, I’m really so sorry that I waited until you were doing a giveaway before I posted a comment!! Actually, I have a lot of comments because I have made a TON of your recipes!!! I look on your blog almost everyday for dinner ideas and treats too. Amazing. I LOVE every one of your recipes you’ve made!! I’m so glad you’re doing this. You’re taking the guesswork out of it, and if I can follow your directions to the T, I will have a fantastic outcome!! You rock, Mel! You’re my fave!!!
KA – well, don’t lift me up to saint status as of yet, since my 18 month old wanted nothing to do with this dinner (although the other two kids did eat it great). I am glad your husband and 2-year old loved it, though. Thanks for letting me know!Jan – I’m glad you liked the sugar gems. I think adding lemon to the dough would be wonderful. You’ll have to let me know if you try it that way!
This was such a great way to use leftover ham! I really enjoyed the combination of all of the different flavors.
Hey Kristin – my kids loved this, too, which is always a bonus. Thanks for letting me know you liked it. I am making your breakfast casserole this week (finally – I’ve had it on my docket to make for months!).
You know I’m all about the easy dinners, and this one sounds like a real winner!
164 good, eh? i’m glad you speak kid because that’d just confuse me.
great dinner, melanie–easy, healthy, and delicious means win, win, win.
We just had it and we LOVED it! even the kids – thank you!
I love skillet meals, quick and easy and usually quite tasty!
The Bentley Family – that is not a dumb question, I promise. The best kind of ham to use, in my humble opinion, would be leftover ham from a spiral cut or similar type ham. If you don’t have that, you can ask the grocery store deli to cut you a thick slice of deli ham that you can then cube and use in a dish such as this. If all else fails, simply chop up lunch meat ham – I’m sure it would still taste great!
Kristy – thanks for letting me know you tried this and liked it!
Lydia – my pictures are hardly professional. Sometimes I just have to hope everyone realizes the dish is 100 times better than the picture but thanks for the compliment anyway! And thanks for the great recipe – you can see that several have made and loved it!
This looke very yummy – we are having ham for Christmas dinner, so I’m going to have to remember to make this with the leftovers! Of course, I may have to make it with chicken before that, because it looks so good!Also, I made your sugar gems today and they were GREAT! I only iced half because I wasn’t quite sure how to store them, once they were iced to keep them from sticking to each other and the foil I wrapped them in…anywho I’m going to ice the rest when I am ready to serve them, and I’m going to try some lemon instead of the vanilla to flavor. Just wanted to say they were so easy and SO good! Thanks!
Hi Melanie…this is the 1st recipe (of many) of yours that I’ve tried. My hubby isn’t much of a pasta-with-anything type of guy, so I wasn’t sure how it would go over. His 1st comment was “This is good” then a few bites later it was “yummy” and at the end it was “this is excellent”. You’ve won him over! I did the recipe exactly…thank you so much for all that you put on here…this is a fantastic site. We are trying harder to stay away from processed anything, but we love to cook and eat. Marcia from Eau Claire WI
Hey Marcia, I’m relieved that the first recipe you tried worked out for you! I’m more relieved that your non-pasta-loving husband liked it, too. Thanks so much for your comment. I appreciate it!
Amy – this is one of my favorite dinners! I’m glad you liked it too…despite being skeptical at first. Thanks for letting me know!
This was very tasty! I was skeptical while I was making this, but I thought, It’s on the blog, so it’s gotta be good! And it was! My husband loved it, and so did my 3.5 year old son!
This was SUPER yummy! A great blend of flavors!!
Evelyn – thanks! So glad you liked this…
We’ve made this twice in the last month and I completely agree with the person who likened it to the Olive Garden. Definitely! Plus, it’s a great way to use up leftover ham and/or pasta. Thanks Mel!
Made this tonight because I had some leftover pork roast from the weekend and it was FANTASTIC! Came together really easy but the flavor was well developed. Will definitely make this again. Thanks!
Delicious! Made it last night & we (me, DH, & DS 13) all loved it. My 13 year old is not much for food that’s mixed together. He loves ham & pasta, but when he saw them mixed together in this dish he immediately went into “can I have a cheese sandwich” mode. Well of course had him try it & much to his surprise he liked it. In fact, he liked it enough to have a second helping! Now I will tell you that he separated the ham from the pasta and ate them separately, but he did eat them both ~ a hearty portions at that! Will definitely be including this recipe in the regular rotation.
I have oodles of ham leftover from the Slow Cooker Maple Brown Sugar ham I made this weekend (did I mention it was 10 lbs?
) and this was my first use of it. My husband and I really liked the flavor of this – I don’t know that I’ve ever used basil and oregano on ham before. The kids weren’t crazy about it, but that’s probably because 1) I didn’t have any cool shaped pasta like you used so they were stuck with whole wheat spaghetti and 2) they’re naturally suspicious of dishes with “green flecks” like parsley, basil and oregano. Their loss 
I made this tonight and it was EXACTLY what I hoped it would be, light and delicious!!! I cut the recipe in half since it’s only myself, my husband and our 2 year old, I added approx 1/2 a can of green beans that were leftover from Christmas dinner just to get them out of the fridge and used 1 tsp of Italian seasoning blend instead of the basil/oregano bc that is what I had on hand. We all loved it, this will definitely become a staple in our house!!! Thank you for the amazing recipe!!!
Any suggestions on an alternate to the Parmesan cheese? I dont have it on hand. I have chedder and colby jack? Think it will melt okay and maybe be mac and cheese like?
Lorrie – this recipe is really adaptable so yes, I think the cheddar or colby jack would work fine…give it a different flavor but still be delicious, I’m guessing.
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