Let's take it back a childhood favorite of mine… Schinkennudeln! It's a ham and cheese pasta and it is truly what my childhood tastes like.
I can’t even begin to describe the memories that Schinkennudeln brings back for me. It was our favorite dinner and my mom is the best at making it. Mine comes out equally as delish but there’s something really special about my mom or omi (grandma) making it for me (also they do the dishes which is an added bonus!). In its simplest form this is a ham and cheese pasta. It’s easy, inexpensive and perfect for a crowd.
All you need are a few things to get the ball rolling. Pasta - duh. I like to use orecchiette because they are like little ears of pasta with an indent that’s perfect for catching bites of ham and cheese so each bite is loaded with plenty of flavor. Ham - naturally. It’s the star of the dish! Frozen Peas - because mom always wanted us to have a few veggies. And some CHEESE, because why not! Trust me when I tell you that you’ve gotta try it!! I mean look at these 2 little girls - tell me they don't look pumped post-Schinkennudeln!
Schinkennudeln (Ham & Cheese Pasta)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups diced ham
- 1 pound orecchiette pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 shallots thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 1 ½ cups frozen peas
- ½ cup pasta cooking water
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup grated Colby jack cheese
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet on medium heat until melted. Add the shallot and sauté for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the cubed ham and the frozen peas and toss to combine.
- Add in the reserved pasta cooking water and then the pasta and 2 varieties of cheese. Season with salt and pepper and lemon zest. Toss to combine and serve as needed.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe by What’s Gaby Cooking
I made this! It was delicious!
We LOVE this recipe. After making it post last Easter (with ham leftovers) my son has been asking for it all year. Thank you Gaby!!
Can’t wait to make this recipe with our Easter left over ham. What an adorable picture of you and your sister. Too cute.
Delicious!!!!!!
Every time I make this recipe, my picky kids rave. This time, I realized I had no scallions. I used some green onions (white part) and it was just as great.
Oh my gosh!! Amazing Pasta recipe.. I made this last night for a dinner party with friends, hubby had to help me because I’m not feeling that great, it was simple and was delicious!!! My friends loved it!!
I grew up in germany miss it terribly and to see this and all these receipts maa as hes my heart melt !!Geuren salad Rotgrout unt jerker schnitzel oh Got Sauregraut mit ribchen’Ich hoffe ich finde alles duesem recepies here!!!?!!
Holy Moly, this was soooo good. Far greater than the sum of it's parts. We have decided this will become tradition after Easter from now on.
This recipe was AMAZING!! Even my picky-a$$ kids who never like the same entree LOVED it! I was afraid to add the shallot for fear that picky kids would veto, so I only added one (instead of two) but it added so much flavor to the dish. This will definitely be in the weeknight meal rotation.
Whipped this up tonight after craving a creamy pasta dish but was out of all creams (milk/half & half/heavy whipping cream). Spruced this up by using TJ's Rosemary sliced ham that I had in the fridge. Thanks for recipe!
This is just the best !
Just made this pasta dish tonight.....and all 3 picky kids LOVED this meal! So easy and so good.
Delicious and very easy to make. I will definitely make this again.
This looks great, definitely want to try it! But don't eat ham--have you ever tried this with diced chicken?
I could just leave out the ham entirely then and follow the recipe otherwise!
In the introduction section the pasta is referred as "Cavatappi" in fact it actually is "ORECCHIETTE " as shown in the pictures attached ! Just an observation! Looks great.