Creamy pasta with Broccoli and Ham

This recipe has quickly become a family favorite and is perfect for those times you feed a family in need of meal in your church or circle of friends.  It is also excellent for those hot summer days when you don't want to turn the stove on. For me, it requires a little bit of planning during grocery shopping because one of the main ingredients I don't typically keep on hand: heavy cream.

This is not an original Crystal Chef recipe. I stumbled across it one day when looking for new ideas to feed my family. Here is the original recipe and all credit belongs here:

Creamy Pasta Shells with Broccoli and Ham

I will admit to two things on this recipe that I do NOT like to substitute. I am a pasta snob....I prefer Barilla pasta.

This is my admitted favorite. You can use any kind of pasta you want. The recipe calls for the shell shape but I hardly every buy that type. I keep Barilla Elbows as a staple in my pantry. I make macaroni and cheese A LOT in this house so this little blue package is a requirement.

The next thing is the cheese I use. Please, for the love of all things Italian, do not use the Parmesan cheese in the little green shake container. You know what I am talking about. That just won't do. It is not that expensive (a small bag costs maybe $1.00 more than the green shaker) and Kroger will grate it fresh for you. I am talking about Satori Parmesan cheese.

This cheese is the REAL deal. It's flavor and texture will make you ashamed if you ever think of picking up that shelf stable green plastic jar. THIS is heavenly.

The recipe is as follows:

Salt and pepper
1 pound of pasta (I use elbows but the original recipe calls for small shells)
4 cups small broccoli florets (I use a bag of frozen chopped broccoli)
2 tablespoons butter (recipe calls for unsalted but I only keep salted butter in my house)
1 small onion, finely chopped (take the time to do this, it needs to be small)
4 ounces cooked ham, chopped (Okay, maybe I am a ham snob too because I will only use Smithfield chopped ham.....hey, I am a Virginian and Smithfield is what's up!)
3/4 cup heavy cream, warmed (30 seconds in the microwave did it for me)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (and some more for the top as you serve)

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente (read the box, its right on front). BEFORE I drain the pasta, I throw in my frozen broccoli to heat it up. It saves time and water and works perfectly. Drain and return to the pot.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onion and saute until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the chopped ham and cook, stirring 2 minutes longer. Stir in cream, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Scrape cream mixture into the pot with the drained pasta and broccoli. Add Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately. Sprinkle some more Parmesan cheese on top as you serve.

The actual key to this recipe is to have your ingredients gathered before you start the pot of water. I typically chop my onion before starting anything else. If you have all the ingredients where you can reach them quickly it helps make this a quick meal for a hungry family.

I hope you try it! It is tasty and truly there is not a whole lot of butter or heavy cream to make it unhealthy. It is just perfect. My hat is off to the creator of this recipe! My family loves it and we have it at least once a month.

Open-Faced Tostadas - Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian

Nothing beats a fast dinner that is really tasty. Even better when you plan ahead and have the ingredients on hand.  One of our favorite fast meals is what we like to call "Open-Faced Tostadas" Is it really a tostada? Beats me! That is just what our family calls it!

It starts with a flour tortilla on a cookie sheet sprinkled with some shredded marble cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you like) and put in a 350 degree oven for the cheese to melt and the tortilla to heat up and curl just a bit.

What happens next is up to you. My family prefers the Non-Vegetarian route. Before I heat my tortillas up, I brown one pound of ground chuck (poor chuck) in a skillet with one half of a medium yellow onion, chopped. When it is browned, I drain and add one package of taco seasoning per the directions. I have also used shredded chicken seasoned with onions and peppers in lieu of ground chuck.

The best part about the tostadas is that you can stack them up with whatever you want. The main ingredients that ours always have is the following:

Broccoli Slaw
Shredded Marble Cheddar Cheese
Grape Tomatoes
Black Beans (rinsed and heated)
Queso Fresco

I have to say that I have tried several different brands of Queso Fresco and I keep coming back to the Cacique brand. No, I am not being paid to endorse them. I just like them the best.

Once you have your meat ready, go ahead and get your tortillas in the oven with the shredded cheddar to start melting so you can begin to prepare the remaining ingredients.

On top of the melted tortilla and melted cheese I stack the meat, a generous handful of black beans, then a little more shredded cheddar, next the broccoli slaw, sliced grape tomatoes, crumbled queso fresco. Sometimes we add a dollop of salsa or sour cream. It all depends on what we have on hand.

For the Vegetarian version - I substitute the meat for sliced and diced Avocado. I never even miss the meat! And the best part of it all is that I generously sprinkle with Celtic Sea Salt.

It was a wonderful dinner, maybe a little heavy on the cheddar but truthfully a totally customizable (is that a word?) meal for each person in your household!