Just like Mama Used to Make: Ham & Cheese Noodle Casserole
My mother does not like to cook. She's ok at it, and certainly did well enough that none of us starved. This is the one recipe that I remember her getting from someone in White Creek and we all enjoyed.
FYI - I recently joined SparkPeople in an attempt to track calories. I posted the recipe there, but since I dont know if you can get in without a membership and ... well who wants to go thru all that just to read a recipe. So I'm cutting and pasting here:
Ingredients
Directions
1) Chop all veggies & ham into 1/4" dice. Preheat oven to 400 F. Set pot of water on to boil for the noodles & salt the water.
2) In an oven-proof skillet or casserole dish (I used my cast iron) heat the oil & saute the veggies and ham until they are soft. When the water comes to a boil add the noodles and cook until they are 90% done.
3) Mix the sour cream, yogurt, mustard and then pour into the skillet on top of the cooked veg & meat. Add pepper if desired. Mix thoroughly.
4) Add cooked noodles to skillet, mix, add cheeses to skillet & mix again.
5) Put into oven for 30 minutes, uncovered until top is brown
Serving Size: 6 servings
Tips
Q1) Sour cream!! You know this is a diet website, right?
A1) I have tried lots of variations to make the easy creamy sauce that this requires: canned cheese soup (tastes chemicaly, & salty), 100% yogurt (doesnt cling right), homemade cream sauce with 1% milk (why dirty another pan?). The sour cream/ yogurt mix coats the noodles just right. The yogurt lightens things up as much as you can and the sour cream stops the sauce from breaking. I suppose you could use full fat yogurt if you wanted....
Q2) Eww! I cut some leftover Easter ham that I had in the freezer and it oozed water all over the place!
A2) Stick a clean paper towel under the defrosted ham before you cut. It wont stop the leak, but it will prevent a giant cleanup.
Q3) Can this be made ahead of time?
A3) Yes! You can chop, fridge and then cook, or you can go all the way to the pan stage, stick it in the fridge and then put the COLD pan into a COLD oven uncovered at 350 for 1 hour. You just walk in the door, put the mail down on the counter, pull the pan out of the fridge and pop it in the oven and THEN go get changed, set the table, walk the dog etc.
Q4) My skillet isnt ovenproof.
A4) In this case transfer to a regular casserole dishes - it fits in an 8x8, but you get more crunchy bits if you have a 9x11. The ovenproof business is just because I dont like to wash more than I have too.
Q5) Ummm, this doesnt look like enough noodles for the veggie meat mix..
A5) We're being sneaky here! Volume-wise, you should have about 2-3x veggie -meat to noodles.
Q6) I dont have egg noodles, can I use regular?
A6) Of course! Egg noodles make my skirt fly up in this dish, but its not worth a special trip to the store. I recommend penne or rotini. Bowties might be nice, but I've never tried them.
Q7) Turkey ham?
A7) I guess, I've never tried it. Let me know,'k?
FYI - I recently joined SparkPeople in an attempt to track calories. I posted the recipe there, but since I dont know if you can get in without a membership and ... well who wants to go thru all that just to read a recipe. So I'm cutting and pasting here:
Ingredients
- 1 Med onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 c. frozen peas
0.5 lbs ham, chopped (1.5 cups-ish)
0.5 c sour cream
0.5 c plain non-fat yogurt
1 tsp dijon mustard
0.5 c shredded cheese (provolone, swiss or cheddar are good, NO Mozzarella!)
1 tbsp parm cheese
6 oz no-yolk egg noodles.
Directions
1) Chop all veggies & ham into 1/4" dice. Preheat oven to 400 F. Set pot of water on to boil for the noodles & salt the water.
2) In an oven-proof skillet or casserole dish (I used my cast iron) heat the oil & saute the veggies and ham until they are soft. When the water comes to a boil add the noodles and cook until they are 90% done.
3) Mix the sour cream, yogurt, mustard and then pour into the skillet on top of the cooked veg & meat. Add pepper if desired. Mix thoroughly.
4) Add cooked noodles to skillet, mix, add cheeses to skillet & mix again.
5) Put into oven for 30 minutes, uncovered until top is brown
Serving Size: 6 servings
Tips
Q1) Sour cream!! You know this is a diet website, right?
A1) I have tried lots of variations to make the easy creamy sauce that this requires: canned cheese soup (tastes chemicaly, & salty), 100% yogurt (doesnt cling right), homemade cream sauce with 1% milk (why dirty another pan?). The sour cream/ yogurt mix coats the noodles just right. The yogurt lightens things up as much as you can and the sour cream stops the sauce from breaking. I suppose you could use full fat yogurt if you wanted....
Q2) Eww! I cut some leftover Easter ham that I had in the freezer and it oozed water all over the place!
A2) Stick a clean paper towel under the defrosted ham before you cut. It wont stop the leak, but it will prevent a giant cleanup.
Q3) Can this be made ahead of time?
A3) Yes! You can chop, fridge and then cook, or you can go all the way to the pan stage, stick it in the fridge and then put the COLD pan into a COLD oven uncovered at 350 for 1 hour. You just walk in the door, put the mail down on the counter, pull the pan out of the fridge and pop it in the oven and THEN go get changed, set the table, walk the dog etc.
Q4) My skillet isnt ovenproof.
A4) In this case transfer to a regular casserole dishes - it fits in an 8x8, but you get more crunchy bits if you have a 9x11. The ovenproof business is just because I dont like to wash more than I have too.
Q5) Ummm, this doesnt look like enough noodles for the veggie meat mix..
A5) We're being sneaky here! Volume-wise, you should have about 2-3x veggie -meat to noodles.
Q6) I dont have egg noodles, can I use regular?
A6) Of course! Egg noodles make my skirt fly up in this dish, but its not worth a special trip to the store. I recommend penne or rotini. Bowties might be nice, but I've never tried them.
Q7) Turkey ham?
A7) I guess, I've never tried it. Let me know,'k?