Broccoli, Ham & Cheese Pasta Casserole

48 Comments

983A70DF-20E2-4BAB-B2B3-DF1817162AE8

Pasta, broccoli and ham mixed in a delicious cheese sauce then topped with crushed Ritz crackers that have been mixed with butter and baked in the oven.

Adapted from: http://www.awickedwhisk.com

 

761DBCCD-53BB-44D0-A49D-2946E6CE357E

Ingredients for casserole.

 

1B8FD707-53B8-4699-B3AB-5E1FA4B277F0

Ingredients for topping.

 

03B313ED-3E6A-4134-A812-EBE9D3661D88

Pour the melted butter

over the crushed crackers.

 

0EC08F35-5D05-42D4-AEDA-0DFB99B01347

Using your fingers or a fork, mix the

butter into the cracker crumbs and set aside.

 

B15EB38F-AD4F-4EFE-B058-E9D85AE33CD4

Slightly undercook the

broccoli by steaming or boiling.

 

D0D00966-DB23-4193-911A-C557EB09661E

Drain and set aside.

 

CDE2D7F8-5A7B-4889-8A2A-F01ECBB9109B

In a large pot cook the pasta al dente

according to the package directions.

 

E1C75F09-6EE0-47A4-A3CF-C0DD98F60B5B

Drain and set aside.

 

8A3D97A0-B0E6-4AAF-9F03-BB659B9EF0C2

Spray a 9” x 13” oven

safe dish with cooking oil.

 

C229787A-D6FE-45A1-9E35-53549B1CBEC8

In a large deep skillet melt the

butter over medium high heat.

 

F6ADFA67-A2E9-45B9-93D0-F76850438D12

Once melted add the flour.

 

72E4DE93-B67A-4176-8A36-78B007802D23

Whisk continuously for about

2 minutes or until it starts to brown.

 

DC92B339-FB0B-4899-B38A-5E041190D40E

Slowly whisk in the milk until no

lumps remain. Add the chicken

broth and whisk to combine.

 

53CA4CE6-5F22-4854-80A3-5F307ADD752C

Add the seasonings, salt and pepper.

 

74E29DE6-0329-438D-A1C9-8103D4B314F9

Whisk to combine.

 

FF90750C-9B91-46F7-BD5D-B9DDC4239743

Add both kinds of cheese.

 

2923BC16-7598-4C68-9DED-2D61CCAE5458

Stir to combine and cook

until the cheese is melted

and sauce thickens up.

 

43BD9456-1C98-405A-9081-993F078D1D75

Place the pasta, broccoli and ham together.

 

45FE543E-9A36-410A-8902-73D59DEAABB7

Pour the cheese sauce on top.

 

2C8A6ECC-A33C-4C12-9E45-3035E884AF29

Toss to combine.

 

D2F097EB-ED74-49A0-BC35-1385DDCA58C7

Pour into prepared baking dish.

 

F968D2D5-030C-4821-86FA-10DE382601DE

Sprinkle cracker crumbs on top.

 

22B12BF7-BA59-49D6-8EC6-0E5821B1F068

Bake in a preheated 350 degree

oven for 25 minutes or until hot

and bubbly and the crumbs

are a golden brown.

 

983A70DF-20E2-4BAB-B2B3-DF1817162AE8

Let sit for 10 minutes then serve.

 

Broccoli, Ham & Cheese Pasta Casserole

  • Difficulty: Intermediate
  • Print

http://www.InDianesKitchen.com

983A70DF-20E2-4BAB-B2B3-DF1817162AE8

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 4 Tbsp. all purpose flour
  • 3½ cups whole milk
  • 1½ cups chicken broth
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 2/3 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese
  • 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 cups cooked ham, chopped into bitesize pieces
  • 1 large head broccoli  florets, chopped
  • 16 oz. rotini pasta, or your favorite

Ingredients for the topping: TOPPING IS OPTIONAL

  • 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

Adding the cracker topping is optional. Although the topping was good right after cooking, it was soggy with the leftovers. I will be leaving the topping off the next time.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Pour the melted butter over the cracker crumbs and mix with a fork or your fingers then set aside.
  3. Boil or steam the broccoli, slightly undercooking, then drain and set aside.
  4. In a large pot cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain and set aside.
  5. Spray a 9″ x 13′ oven safe dish with cooking oil.
  6. In a large skillet melt the butter over medium high heat.
  7. Add the flour and whisk immediately and constantly until the color changes to a light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Don’t stop whisking!
  8. Slowly add the milk whisking until no lumps remain. Whisk in the chicken broth.
  9. Add all of the seasonings, salt and pepper then stir to combine.
  10. Add both kinds of cheese and stir until melted. Cook to desired thickness.
  11. Add the pasta, ham and broccoli to a large bowl or pan.
  12. Pour the cheese sauce on top and toss to combine.
  13. Pour into the prepared casserole dish.
  14. Sprinkle with the cracker crumbs.
  15. Bake for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly and the cracker crumbs are a light golden brown. I browned mine under the broiler after baking 25 minutes.
  16. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes then serve.

http://www.InDianesKitchen.com

Categories: Broth, Casseroles, Cheese, Milk Products, Pasta, Pork/Ham, Vegetables/Slaws/Salads

48 Comments »

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.