Made this for dinner the same night I made the Ham/Broccoli/Egg Bake and I think this one was the favorite. It’s from My Recipes. It wasn’t hard to make but it took a little time to put together. It was really good, sort of like a mac n cheese on steroids.
8 ounces pasta
2 cups chopped broccoli
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup panko or other coarse bread crumbs
1/4 cup flour
3 cups low fat milk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan
4 ounces diced ham
1 Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9 x 13″ casserole dish. Bring pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions. During the last 3 – 4 minutes of cooking time, add the broccoli. Drain, rinse and drain again then pour into casserole dish.
2 In saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Remove 1 tablespoon from pan and mix into bread crumbs in a small bowl. Add flour to melted butter and whisk until smooth and bubbling, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk, add paprika and season with salt and pepper. Stir until sauce begins to boil, about 8 minutes then remove from heat.
3 Stir in 1 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese and all of the Parmesan until smooth then stir in ham.
4 Stir sauce into pasta and broccoli. Sprinkle with remaining Cheddar cheese and bread crumbs. Bake until top browns and sauce bubbles, about 30 minutes.
Loved the “mac n cheese on steroids”! Sounds fabulous 😉
Thanks! It was pretty fabulous! Thanks for commenting!