Baked Ham Mac'N'Cheese

Gooey flavor bursting Mac'N'Cheese
I made the other day

Baked Mac’N’Cheese is one of those dishes that seems to have two camps. Either you see it as a main dish or as a side. I personally could eat a large bowl of this and call it dinner, but my husband prefers it as a side… So on this, we are a house divided… meh whatev.

That said, this is a hearty, flavorful dish that puts leftover ham or canned ham (see my post on Why I Can Meat) to excellent use! I usually have a few jars of ham in the house. This is nice when I am getting close to needing to make a grocery run, I usually have these ingredients in the house and it makes a delicious meal and doesn’t require too much work.

Ingredients:

2 jars of canned Sunday ham ready to go

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon of ground mustard

½ teaspoon powdered onion

1 (10-oz.) block extra sharp Cheddar cheese (preferably white), shredded or grated.

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)

1/2 (16-oz.) package spiral macaroni, cooked

1 jar of your canned ham (or 1-2 cups left over ham)

Crumb Topping:

1 cup of plain or seasoned breadcrumbs

½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon of parsley

½ cup bacon crumbles (or bacon bits if you prefer)

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Prepare pasta according to box directions, drain and set aside.

small bowl of flour
on hand

Melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium-low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. (it will be thick or pasty)

Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, 5 minutes or until thickened.

I shred my own cheese adding a dash of
flour to prevent it from sticking together

Whisk in salt, black pepper, red pepper, onion powder and ground mustard, ham and shredded cheese until smooth.

Fold in pasta.

Pour pasta mixture into a lightly greased 2-qt. baking dish.

Topping:

Mix shredded parmesan cheese, parsley, bread crumbs and bacon crumbles and sprinkle over top of pasta.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden and I sbubbly.

Variations I have tried:

Elbow macaroni works just as well.

Substitute ham for smoked sausage or bacon.

Green onions or chives mixed in the topping are delicious.

I have also meal prepped this for the freezer in the past with great success. You follow the directions just the same but use a foil casserole pan, don’t cook it, cover it in foil and place in the freezer. Then you can just pull it out in the morning and pop it into the oven to bake in the evening. Easy peezy. It make a great dish to give to a new mom who just had a baby too… because those first 4 weeks can be ROUGH.