Ham n Mac Casserole

Photography by Lauren

A couple weeks ago the hubs and I went out for a rare evening without our awesome child while we were out my brother and his fiancé cared for her. That’s right I said fiancé my big bro is GETTING MARRIED!!! Anyway back to the point of this post. Lauren (the fiancé) is pretty much a meat and potatoes kind of girl, veggies aren’t really her friend. So when they agreed to watch Charlot, I went to her for what she would like me to prepare for their meal. Yup you volunteer your babysitting services I cook you supper seems fair to me!

I sat the table for a nice dinner for them. My SIL got me these
sweet new placesmats and napkins!

She didn’t say really what she wanted other than she really likes my Mac n Cheese. I knew I needed something I could stick in the oven when I got home that my brother wouldn’t have to fuss with much while they waited for Lauren to get off work and get there. Thus the Ham and Mac Casserole was born.

I even made dessert!

This is super easy and tasty with homemade cheese sauce, chunks of ham, and crunch panko breadcrumbs on top you can’t go wrong. Take some help from the store and have your deli cut you a couple of slices of ham pretty thick then you can just cut it in cubes when you get home. And please don’t pass judgment on me my cheese sauce contains Velveeta cheese, not a fancy blend of 5 or 10 different cheese. But it is delicious and I like it, if you want to use this recipe with your cheese sauce feel free.

Ham n Mac Casserole

½ lb Ham (Cubed)

1 lb Elbow Macaroni (I like the Barilla Brand the noodles have ridges which hold more sauce)

4 tbsp butter

2 heaping tsp flour

1-2 cups milk (this all depends on how thick or thin you like your sauce)

Pinch of Red Pepper

Dash of Black Pepper

2 oz Velveeta Cheese

½ cup sour cream

1 cup panko bread crumbs

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

EVOO

Cook noodles just shy of package directions. In a large non-stick skillet brown your cubes of ham in EVOO. In a large sauce pot melt butter sprinkle in flour and seasoning stir over heat for several minutes to allow the flour flavor to cook out. Start with only adding a cup of milk, see how thick your béchamel (look at me with the big cooking term) sauce is too thick add more. Start adding in the Velveeta melt it down add more milk if you want your sauce thinner, at the very end remove from heat and add sour cream. Stir in noodles and three quarters of the ham. Pour into a prepared baking dish. Top with remaining ham. In a small bowl combine panko and parm cheese, moisten with EVOO. Top your noodle ham mix with the panko cover with foil. Bake covered at 350 for 20 minutes uncover and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until brown. ENJOY!