Lemony Ham & Pea Pasta

When I think of Spring, I think of ham, peas, and lemon. Well…I guess I also think of flowy dresses, florals, and pastels…but let’s just focus on the food stuff for now.

So ham, peas, and lemon. If that’s what comes to mind I figured I might as well combine all 3 into a dish together and what better way to do that than with pasta! Pasta is like that one friend that brings everyone together…ya know what I mean? Like it’s that common person that everyone will show up for and bridges new friendships.  Does this metaphor mean anything to anyone else? Because it makes perfect sense to me. The other friends are the random ingredients you add to the pasta…never mind.

Anywho, a lot of times lemon pasta tend to be on the creamy side. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE me a lemon cream sauce. But for this particular pasta dish, I wanted to keep it on the lighter side. Very bright in flavor and low on the dairy. In fact, this sauce is mostly made up of chicken broth and lemon juice with only 1/4 cup of heavy cream. (Also 1/4 cup of butter if you want to count that but I don’t want to 😜). But the cool thing is you can totally customize this to your tastes if you’d like. Want to add more cream? Do it! Like it a little less lemony? Swap some of the lemon juice for more chicken broth. Don’t be afraid to mess around with it.

Lemony Ham & Pea Pasta

1lb Pasta, cooked (any kind will work, I just prefer a short pasta as opposed to a long noodle for this dish)

2tb Olive oil

12 oz Ham, diced

1/4 cup Butter

1 small Onion, small diced

4 cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 cup Lemon juice

1 cup Chicken broth

2 tsp. Corn starch

1 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp dried Thyme

Pepper to taste

1/4 cup Heavy cream

1 cup Peas (thawed if frozen or blanched for about a minute and shocked Im ice water if fresh)

Parmesan cheese for plating (optional)

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan, Dutch oven, or shallow pot (it’s needs to be big enough to hold all the ingredients listed) Add the diced ham and cook until lightly crispy and any fat has rendered off. Remove from Pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add the 1/4 cup of butter over medium low heat. Add in your diced onion and cook until they are soft and translucent. Add in your minced garlic and cook about 1 minute.

While the onions and garlic are cooking, whisk the 2 teaspoons of corn starch into the 1 cup of chicken broth to create a slurry.

When the garlic and onions are done, add the pepper, salt, thyme, and lemon juice to the pan. Mixing it well  Then, pour in your slurry. Allow it to come to a boil (corn starch does not reach its full thickening potential until the liquid is at a full boil) Whisk often to keep anything from burning or sticking.

Once it has come to a boil, whisk in the 1/4 cup of heavy cream. At this point you can adjust if needed. If you want to thicker you can add more cornstarch, or if it’s too thick add a splash more cream or broth.

Add the ham back into the sauce. Pour in your pasta and gently fold to coat it in the sauce and heat through. Remove from the heat and stir your peas in at the very end.

I like to top mine with grated Parmesan just before serving or over each individual portion.

Hope you enjoy it! Oh, and it's also a great way to use up home when you have leftovers after holidays.  You can even throw leftover ham in the freezer and pull it out to make this down the road.