EASY & SIMPLE RECIPES: USING LEFTOVER CHRISTMAS HAM: HAM AND GOAT CHEESE CARBONARA

It became a clear the minute I turned on the food network channel and saw the recipe being made that Carbonara would become my favorite thing to make. Carbonara is also considered Italian bacon and eggs because its spaghetti pasta, cheese, and bacon tossed in an egg sauce (talk about a twist on breakfast) In the beginning I would make it different versions of it using roman noodle I was Carbonara crazy. I would try different cheese and meats and it was always great. That when it occurred to me this dish will work with any pasta that can be tossed in a tomato or cream sauce.  It won’t be the traditional Carbonara of course, but a yummy quick meal anytime of the day it will be.

Now that Christmas is over we all have plenty of leftovers from that 15lb ham we’re trying to rid ourselves of. This is also that time of year where we don’t mind spending a little extra for the chesses we love. (Actually, I was making this long before the holidays, but you get my drift) This is the perfect after Christmas meal to make. Now get up and get ready to make your family an after Christmas breakfast they will not forget!

Before we get started I want to share a few tricks to making great Carbonara. First don’t add any milk or cream. I know I too thought it had cream because the sauce is soo dreamy creamy, but there is none. The next thing is don’t scramble the eggs. I mean if you do a little bit its ok because scrambled and ham is yummy but that’s not what you want to shoot for. A nice smooth sauce is what you want.

 

INGREDIENTS:

-A Package of Pasta, uncooked (About 4 cups)

-1tsp Dijon Mustard

-2 Eggs

- ½ tsp. Salt

-1 tsp. black Pepper

-1 cup Cooked Ham, Chopped

-2 tsp. Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil

½ cup Goat Cheese

-4-6 cups of water

Serves: 4

1. In a large pot, bring water to a rolling boil. Add 1tsp of oil, salt, and pasta. Cook until al dente according to package directions and strain. (I used spaghetti and it took about 9 minutes)

2. In a pan, heat the other teaspoon of oil on Medium heat. Sauté ham for 1 minute just to heat through and release the flavors

3. Add pasta to the pan and toss until the pasta is combined with the ham. Remove from heat.

4. In a bowl combine eggs, pepper, and mustard. Whisk the mixture constantly for 1 minute.

5. Pour the mixture over the pasta and toss it lightly. Place over Medium-low heat and add cheese. Continue cooking just until cheese melts. Enjoy!

Tips

*The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs, so to save on cooking time add the cheese to the egg mixture.

*Ham can be really salty along and with salting the pasta water it is best to taste before deciding to add more salt to this dish.