Creamy Ham and Cheese Pasta

We had a huge ham for Easter dinner this year.  Of course that meant lots of dinners made with leftover ham.  I would usually freeze some of the leftover ham, but I've had this huge ham in my freezer since Christmas and I really didn't want to put anymore of it back in there.  So, I decided to come up with lots of different ways to use all that leftover ham and hope my family would hang in there until it was gone.

I used ham in omelets, on top of pizza, in sandwiches, in homemade egg "Mcmuffins."  Then, I made a creamy ham gravy that I poured over biscuits for dinner.  My 8 yr. old daughter cried when she sat down for dinner that night.  Cried!  She managed to eat most of her dinner, but I knew I was losing her.  I had enough ham for one more dinner.  That's when I decided to try this recipe for Creamy Ham and Cheese Pasta.  One more ham dinner...........Will my family survive?  Will there be more tears?

Ingredients (printable recipe)
1 package (16 ounces) pasta 
2 1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 1/2 cups baby portabello mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
handful or two of fresh spinach
1 cup shredded mozzarella/provolone cheese
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute ham and mushrooms in butter. Stir in flour and salt until well blended. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened.

Reduce heat. Stir in spinach and cheese. Cook and stir until cheese is melted. Drain pasta; stir ham mixture into pasta. 
Makes 6 servings.

Adapted from Taste of Home

The Results...
3 out of 5 stars.  Not bad.  This was actually one of my better leftover ham dinners.  I adapted the original recipe quite a bit by using fresh mushrooms, fresh spinach, more milk and mozzarella instead of parmesan cheese.  Plus, I added some Italian seasoning.  Everyone thought it was pretty good and I had no complaints or tears at the dinner table.  We survived!


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