Pasta, Ham and Gruyere Casserole is a hearty, delicious & simple dish, with egg noodles, Gruyere cheese, peas, spices and ham baked in a creamy sauce. 
Do you ever have those days when you get so busy with projects or other activities that when it gets to be dinner time, you realize you didn’t remember to plan anything or lay anything out from the freezer? Where you wish the dinner “fairies” would magically appear and fix dinner (and clean up) for you? Yep. I did that about a week ago. I racked my brain and ended up creating this this Pasta, Ham and Gruyere Cheese Casserole “on the fly” for a quick and easy dinner. Boy, was it good!
Before making this, I foraged to see what leftovers we had hanging around, and came up with this idea for a quick pasta based casserole, and guess what? It actually tasted great! Hooray for last minute throw-together dinners!!!!
Egg noodles and smokey flavored Gruyere cheese sauce is a great combo. Add to that some ham, a few peas, and a few more ingredients, and BAM! You’ve got yourself a quick casserole (like Mac n’ Cheese on steroids) that tastes so good! So I thought I would share this easy recipe on the ol’ blog today. Here’s how to make this simple dish:
Cook The Pasta First
First things first. Cook the egg noodles in boiling water per the package instructions until done. Once they are fully cooked, drain them well. Easy, right? While the noodles are cooking, you can make the cheese sauce.
Make The Creamy Cheese Sauce
While the noodles are cooking you can make the cheese sauce. In a large saucepan melt the butter, and then add the flour, garlic powder and onion powder. Whisk these ingredients together, and cook for about a minute on low heat.
Add the Gruyere cheese and milk to the pan. Cook the sauce on low heat, stirring often, until cheese has melted, and the mixture thickens. Once the sauce has thickened, pour in the whipping cream, stir to fully blend, and then season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Add Ham, Frozen Peas and Noodles To Sauce
Once you have the sauce seasoned to taste with the salt and pepper, add the pieces of ham. “Leftover” Ham. Hooray for leftovers!
After adding the ham, toss in the frozen peas. Yep. Just throw them in frozen. There’s no need to thaw them at all! They will thaw quickly in the hot cheese sauce.
Now add the cooked and drained egg noodles, and stir gently, to combine and fully coat the noodles with the cheese sauce.
Time To Bake The Pasta, Ham and Gruyere Casserole
Spray an 8×8 baking dish with non-stick spray and pour the combined pasta and sauce into the dish. Grate additional Gruyere cheese onto the top of the casserole. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs, cover the dish with aluminum foil, and place the pasta, ham and Gruyere casserole into a preheated 350°F oven.
Bake the pasta, ham and Gruyere casserole for 30 minutes. When done, it should be bubbly around the edges, and golden brown on top. Remove the dish from the oven and carefully remove foil. When it comes out of the oven 30 minutes later, it should look like this:
Time To Eat!
I recommend letting the casserole cool for just a minute or two, to make it easier to dish up, then dish it up! The pasta tastes fantastic (I credit the smokey taste of that Gruyere Cheese!). We enjoyed it this time with some of the green beans I canned last summer (from our garden).
The leftover casserole for lunch the next day was wonderful, as well. Store the casserole covered in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. This recipe makes 4 servings, but could very easily be doubled.
Hope you will give pasta, ham and Gruyere casserole a try. It’s EASY and DELICIOUS! Have a great day.
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Recipe Source: My brain, while hungry!
Pasta, Ham and Gruyere Casserole is a hearty, delicious & simple dish, with egg noodles, Gruyere cheese, peas, spices and ham baked in a creamy sauce.
- 2 cups egg noodles (or any pasta you prefer)
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup cup grated Gruyere cheese
- 1/3 cup whipping cream
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- 1 cup chopped ham
- 1/3 cup peas (frozen are fine)
- Additional 1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese (for garnish)
- 2 Tablespoons bread crumbs (for garnish)
- Non-stick spray (for baking dish)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8"x8" baking dish with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Cook pasta according to pkg. instructions. Drain. Set aside.
While pasta is cooking, prepare cheese sauce. Melt butter in large pan (or skillet). Whisk in flour, garlic powder and onion powder. Cook for about a minute. Add milk. Stir until fully combined and sauce has thickened. Add a cup of grated cheese. Stir to combine. Cook on low until cheese has fully melted. Add whipping cream. Stir to fully combine. Continue cooking on LOW, but do not let mixture come to a boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add ham pieces. Add peas. Stir gently to combine. Add cooked and drained pasta. Stir gently until pasta is coated with sauce. Pour pasta and sauce into prepared 8x8 baking dish. Cover the top of casserole with additional grated cheese, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.
- Cover baking dish with aluminum foil. Cut a tiny hole in top of foil to vent, then bake casserole in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. When done, and cheese is bubbly, remove to a wire rack for a minute or two to slightly cool, then serve. Enjoy!
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!
This is my favorite casserole recipe–it is delicious. And it tastes just as good the second and third day reheated. This is a regular on my monthly meal planning. I’m so glad I found this recipe.
Good morning, Debra… so happy to hear you enjoy this yummy casserole. Have a GREAT day.