Leek and Ham Pasta

Here’s a nice, soothing pasta dish to warm your cockles. Ham and leek is a very traditional combination, and this is perfect when you want something simple and filling after a long day. This leek and ham pasta is quick to make, absolutely delicious and will keep the whole family happy!

With the creaminess of the dish coming from creme fraiche rather than actual cream, it’s a comforting dish which doesn’t feel too heavy.

its also highly customisable depending on what you have in the house – handful of frozen peas? Throw them in there! Leftover broccoli? Excellent, get it in! Some spinach? That’ll work perfectly too.

The Ingredients

• Fresh fusilli – I always like to use fresh pasta when I’m cooking on a weeknight, because it cuts the cooking time in half. However, dried pasta will work perfectly well. You could also use penne here.
• Garlic – required for flavour. Increase if you are a big garlic lover!
• Leeks – leeks add a delicious mild sweetness to this dish, with that earthy background note.
• Ham hock – I used precooked shredded ham hock, which you can buy from the supermarket. You can also use leftover roast ham – that would be delicious. Don’t use wafer thin ham or ham slices, the texture wouldn’t work in this dish.
• Crème fraiche – adds the creamy and almost slightly sour note to the dish – it’s so easy to use for creamy sauces!
• Parsley – use fresh. You can omit if you don’t have it.
• Mature cheddar and breadcrumbs– this is for the cheesy topping. If you like, you can make the dish up to this point and leave off the topping, serving as a normal pasta and sauce rather than a pasta bake.

Making the pasta bake

This is a quick and easy pasta bake, where you can get all of the comfort of a delicious pasta bake but in a much shorter time. Here are my top tips:

• The smaller you chop your leeks, the quicker they’ll take to cook, so if you’re in a hurry you can chop them into very small pieces.
• You have the option to serve as a normal pasta and sauce, or topped with cheese and breadcrumbs and grilled. I would always do it the cheesy way! Cook under the grill until it’s golden and bubbling. If you’re feeling adventurous, these flavours can take quite a strong cheese on top – Stilton would work well!

Leek and Ham Hock Pasta

Harriet Young

March 11, 2024

A delicious and comforting leek and ham pasta bake, topped with mature cheddar.

5

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Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 500 g fresh fusilli
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 400 g leeks
• 180 g cooked ham hock shredded
• 200 ml half fat creme fraiche
• large handful of chopped parsley
• 40 g mature cheddar
• 20 g breadcrumbs

Instructions

 

• Put the pasta on to cook in a large pan of boiling, salted water.
• Chop the garlic and add to a large saucepan with the olive oil. Add the thinly sliced leeks and cook on a medium heat for 5 mins, until starting to soften.
• Add the ham hock and 100ml water, and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the creme fraiche, heat through for a couple of minutes, then turn off the heat and stir in the parsley.
• Drain the cooked pasta, reserving a cup of the cooking water, and stir the sauce into the pasta with the reserved water.
• You could serve it like this – or pour into an oven proof dish and top with breadcrumbs and grated cheddar, then put under the grill for 5 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.

Keyword ham, leeks, pasta

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Looking for more ways to use your roast dinner leftovers? Why not try:

• Chicken: Chicken Nacho Salad, Chicken and Pea Risotto, Chicken and Lentil Soup, Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta, Chicken Stroganoff Pie, Leftover Roast Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Filo Pie
• Beef: Leftover Beef Cottage Pie, Warm Beef and Lentil Salad
• Ham: Leftover Ham Pie, Turkey and Ham Lasagne
• Lamb: Leftover Lamb Shepherds Pie
• Duck: Hoisin Duck Stir Fry, Duck Fried Rice