This ham and cheese casserole is an easy, delicious meal that’s perfect for a weeknight or Sunday dinner. In this recipe, pasta is covered with a creamy béchamel sauce, Swiss cheese and diced ham. With just ten ingredients this creamy ham and cheese pasta uses simple ingredients, and requires minimal prep, plus it makes a nice big batch so it feeds a crowd.
What is a béchamel sauce?
A béchamel, also called a white sauce, is one of the five mother sauces of French cuisine. It’s a simple (but magical) combination of butter, flour and milk. The butter and flour make a roux, and then the milk is added and simmered until thickened. It’s usually flavored with spices, common additions include: nutmeg, salt, pepper (white or black) and bay leaf. It has a creamy, nutty flavor and smooth texture.
On its own, a béchamel doesn’t necessarily shine. You probably will never think to yourself, hmmm you know what I can go for right now? Some béchamel… But, when combined or added to other ingredients, it can take an ordinary dish and turn it into something spectacular!
A white sauce goes great with cheese. In fact when cheese is added, it makes a different sauce altogether – Mornay Sauce. In this ham and cheese pasta we use a white sauce and cheese but we don’t combine them. Instead we layer the pasta, sauce, cheese and ham to create a distinct and delicious flavor combination.
What kind of pasta to use for this dish
I like to use spiral shaped pasta. In this recipe we use rotelle. It’s large and the spirals open nicely when cooked. You can use a different spiral pasta shape like rotini, fusilli or any tube shaped pasta.
Ingredients
- Butter – regular salted butter
- Flour – white all-purpose flour
- Milk – whole milk works best, we have used reduced fat milk for the sauce too. However, never used skim milk, I think it might be too thin and watery.
- Bay Leaf
- Salt – needed for the sauce and to salt the pasta water (we use kosher salt)
- Ground Nutmeg – with nutmeg it’s best to grate it yourself. Use a microplane (small grater) that way you are getting fresh nutmeg each time.
- Black or White Pepper – Some people prefer to use white pepper in a white sauce to not have the little black flecks in there. I just use the black pepper since it’s what I have loaded in the pepper grinder.
- Pasta – Use a spiral or tube shaped pasta. We use rotelle (the twisty one not the wagon wheel) in this ham and cheese pasta bake, but you can use rotini, fusilli, or a tube pasta.
- Ham – Choose a ham that is pretty strong and not sweet so it holds its own against the cheese and sauce. We use a couple of small ham steaks.
- Swiss Cheese – To get a smooth texture it’s best to shred your own.
You will also need:
A large, ovenproof casserole dish or baking pan (about 9X12)
Prep Work
- Cut the ham into roughly ¼ inch slices then cut across to make ½ inch pieces. As long as they’re bite sized pieces they’ll work.
- Shred the Swiss cheese
- Gather the remaining ingredients and measure out the butter, flour and the spices. The 1½ teaspoon of salt, pepper and nutmeg will go into the sauce at the same time so put them in the same bowl.
- Warm the milk, in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- Everything moves really fast when making a white sauce. Plus all your attention needs be on the sauce; it’s very important to never leave milk on the heat unattended. Have everything ready to go for this recipe before starting to cook.
Start the pasta water
Before we start cooking, we’re going to start a large pot of water over medium to medium-high heat. Cover the pot and let the water heat up and come to a boil while you start the white sauce. Having the pasta water ready to go will ensure the sauce doesn’t sit too long and thicken.
Make the béchamel
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is melted add the flour. Whisk the butter and flour until well combined and smooth. Cook the flour mixture for 2-3 minutes, stirring almost constantly.
Slowly add the milk to the saucepan while stirring. Add the bay leaf. Gently bring the sauce to a simmer. It will take about 10-12 minutes. It will happen. Don’t crank the heat. Stir occasionally to keep it from sticking and burning on the bottom.
Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg to the sauce, stir to combine well. Cook the sauce for 3-4 minutes keeping it at a gentle simmer, lower the heat to medium low to low, stir frequently. The sauce will thicken as it simmers it should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove the bay leaf and discard. Taste the béchamel; add a little extra salt, if needed. Keep the sauce on low or warm until ready to use, stir occasionally.
Once you have the sauce under control, drop the pasta and cook to package directions for al dente. Remember to salt the pasta water 1 tablespoon should do it.
Before draining the pasta, reserve about ½ cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta well, return it to the pot and add the reserved pasta water, stir.
Preheat oven 350°F
Build the ham and cheese casserole
Use a large, ovenproof casserole dish or baking pan (about 9X12). Add half of the pasta to the baking dish. Add about half of the béchamel sauce over the pasta.
Sprinkle half of the grated Swiss cheese and half the diced ham. Add the remaining pasta, the rest of the sauce and top the casserole with the remaining cheese and ham.
Place the casserole dish on a baking sheet just in case it bubbles over. Bake the ham and cheese pasta for 30-35 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly and some of the ham pieces are a little toasty on the tips.
You may also like these recipes:
- Garlic Shrimp Pasta
- Baked Ziti with Sausage
- Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
- Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole
Ham and Cheese Casserole
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons Butter
- 6 tablespoons Flour white all-purpose flour
- 5 cups Whole Milk warmed through (or use reduced fat not skim)
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1½ teaspoon Salt plus 1 tablespoon for the pasta water
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon Black or White Pepper
- 16 ounces Spiral Shaped Pasta rotini, rotelle, fusilli, etc. or a tube shape pasta – cooked to package directions for al dente
- 10 ounces Ham cut into ¼ inch slices then into ½ inch pieces
- 8 ounces Swiss Cheese shredded
Instructions
- Start a large pot of water over medium to medium-high to get the water going for the pasta. When you’re ready raise the heat to get the water to a boil.
Make the béchamel
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is melted add the flour. Whisk the butter and flour until well combined and smooth. Cook the flour mixture for 2-3 minutes, stirring almost constantly.
- Slowly add the milk to the saucepan while stirring.
- Add the bay leaf.
- Gently bring the sauce to a simmer; it will take about 10-12 minutes. It will happen. Don’t raise the heat. Stir the occasionally to keep it from sticking and burning on the bottom of the pan.
- Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg to the sauce, stir to combine well.
- Lower the heat to medium-low to low, cook for 3-4 minutes keeping it at a gentle simmer, stir frequently. The sauce will thicken as it simmers it should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove the bay leaf and discard. Taste the sauce; add a little extra salt, if needed. As a reference we added ½ teaspoon to ours. Keep the sauce on low or warm until ready to use, stir occasionally.
- Once you have the sauce under control (on low heat), drop the pasta in the boiling water and cook to package directions for al dente. Remember to salt the pasta water 1 tablespoon of salt should do it.
- When the pasta is cooked reserve about ½ cup of the pasta water just in case it’s needed later (see Notes). Drain the pasta well, return it to the pot.
Preheat oven to 350°F
Build the ham and cheese casserole
- Use a large, ovenproof casserole dish or baking pan (about 9X12). Add half of the pasta to the baking dish.
- Add about half of the béchamel sauce over the pasta.
- Sprinkle half of the grated Swiss cheese and half the diced ham.
- Add the remaining pasta, the rest of the sauce and top the casserole with the remaining cheese and ham.
- Bake the ham and cheese pasta for 30-35 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly and some of the ham pieces are a little toasty on the tips.
Notes
- Have everything ready to go for this recipe before you start cooking. Everything moves really fast when making this white sauce. Plus, all your attention needs be on the sauce. It’s very important to never leave milk on the stove unattended.
- If the pasta is sitting around for whatever reason it will start to dry and become sticky. Use the reserved pasta water to make it slippery again. Add a tablespoon or two of the water until you can stir it easily.
- Place the casserole dish on a baking sheet just in case it bubbles over.
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