This macaroni and cheese with diced ham and extra vegetables is a perfect one dish meal.
I love finding out that a dish that I previously thought was a relatively recent invention is actually much older than I thought. On the basis that things that last, last for a reason if a dish has been around for centuries, there’s probably a good reason for it, isn’t there? Macaroni and cheese is one such dish, with origins in the thirteenth century. And rightly so, in my opinion. Easy and quick to make, richly and gooey with cheese, it’s perfect comfort food.
Macaroni cheese is a classic that can be jazzed up which way and another. Mine contains a few optional portions of extra veg too, and some crispy fried Princes Diced Ham. With oozy gooey cheese it is perfect for cold winter evenings. Make a day in advance and keep in the fridge until ready to reheat. Here, we’ve added an extra layer of flavour to the dish with some cubes of Princes canned ham. We’ve also used a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella cheeses; the soft mozzarella goes wonderfully gooey and stringy when cooked. Canned meat is a great staple to have in the store cupboard, with its long shelf life there are no fears about having to use it up. And these small cubes are very easy to drop into any suitable recipe.
Adding the butternut squash to the sauce is a great way to add extra vegetables, and it also has the added advantage of giving the dish a delightful, rich golden colour. This is a great one-dish meal, but we tend to serve it with a salad or steamed green vegetables as an accompaniment, to give another texture.
Pop over to Come Home to Princes, where you find lots of other recipes, including some more from me.
Macaroni cheese is a classic that can be jazzed up which way and another. Mine contains a few optional portions of extra veg too, and some crispy fried Princes Diced Ham. With oozy gooey cheese it is perfect for cold winter evenings. Make a day in advance and keep in the fridge until ready to reheat.
- 150 g macaroni
- 20 g butter
- 2 dsp plain flour
- 500 ml skimmed milk
- 200 g roasted butternut squash
- 2 dsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp French mustard (optional)
- 200 g can Princes diced ham (drained and rinsed)
- 100 g strongly flavoured hard cheese, such as cheddar or parmesan finely grated
- 100 g mozzarella cut into small pieces
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Cook the macaroni as per the packet instructions in a large pan of salted water.
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Blitz the butternut squash with 75ml of the milk with a stick blender.
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Melt the butter in a large pan, add the flour and stir well. Cook for a few minutes; this is important to stop the sauce tasting of flour.
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Turn the heat right down, then add the remainder of the milk to the flour and butter, a splash at a time, stirring well all the time.
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Add the butternut squash puree, soy sauce and mustard. Stir in half the hard cheese and half the mozzarella.
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Drain the can of Princes Diced Ham, and fry briefly until the cubes are pale brown on a couple of sides. Stir into the sauce. Add the macaroni to the sauce and mix well.
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Transfer to the serving dishes, dot the top with the remaining mozzarella and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
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Put under a hot grill until golden and the sauce is bubbling.
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Serve with green vegetables or salad.
Prepare in advance and reheat in a medium oven, then grill before serving.
You can buy ready chopped frozen squash from all the major supermarkets, or roast your own and freeze any leftovers.
A quick and easy way to add some vegetables to the dish is to replace a third of the macaroni with chopped cauliflower.
Macaroni and cheese with ham recipe commissioned by Princes. All opinions our own.
Nice twist on the classic. Love the diced ham addition :-)
It does give a tasty addition to a classic meal.
I am a BIG fan of macaroni cheese, and with ham, that sounds wonderful! Karen
It is an all time favourite comfort food, isn’t it.
This is such a homey meal! Who doesn’t love macaroni and cheese — I love adding extra flavors to these kinds of dishes to round it out and make it a balanced meal — not that I couldn’t eat a plate of mac and cheese by itself…
The added extras just make it that little bit more moreish.
Your photos are fabulous, Helen. I think a little bit of ham makes almost anything better, but I’ve gone through the last nuggets of leftover holiday ham that I’ve been hoarding. I’m not sure if we get Princes here in the States, I’m going to look for it!
Thank you Sue. Good luck on the hunt for the ham, hopefully you’ll find some.
We love macaroni cheese and love the idea of this rendition giving it extra fuss free flavour!
An easy dish made tastier.
YUM! Love the addition to this classic comfort dish!
Such an easy thing to make too.
When I’m camping or at our beach hut, tinned foods come into their own and meals can be made without having to work about the lack of a fridge. Fab recipe.
It would be the perfect meal for camping out.
This looks delicious! I haven’t bought Princes canned ham for a while but I used to love making toasted cheese and ham sandwiches with it. I’ll definitely be trying this :)
Tinned ham can be so useful to just keep handy for meals like this.
oh that looks delicious and my little ones are always asking for macaroni cheese too!
I’m sure your little ones would enjoy this dish too.
This looks great for the winter and really easy to make too
It is the perfect winter comfort food.
It’s very handy having tinned ham in the cupboard to make a dish like this. Princes is a great band. Macaroni cheese is such a tasty comfort dish, perfect for this cold weather.
It really is a perfect comfort meal for when it’s cold outside.
This looks just absolutely incredible, one of my all time favourite dishes and comfort in a bowl x
Can’t beat food that makes you feel happy.
Nice and easy recipe. Mac & cheese is my favourite with any variation.
It’s one of those can’t beat it meals isn’t it?
Mine love mac n cheese, never thought about adding ham before
It makes for a really tasty addition, certainly worth trying.
This sounds amazing! I have pinned it! A great way to get hidden veggies too!
Getting those hidden veggies in is always a good trick.
As always your dish looks delicious! It looks homey and very tasty and I will surely try it soon :) I’m sure the hubby will not mind either ;)
I hope the husband enjoys it. in my experience comfort food is a good thing.
I am loving your photos. This looks very tasty.
The photo doesn’t lie, it is a tasty dish worth trying.
This is my kind of food. I love what you have done with the recipe, especially adding the butternutsquash
I do try and add some extra veggies to all my recipes. every little makes a difference.
Macaroni and cheese is a winner in this household, never tried it with Ham though! Sounds delicious
I do like a twist on a classic.
This looks yummy! I haven’t had mac & cheese for years! xo
Worth trying again, to remind you of what you’re missing.
Macaroni cheese is one of my favourite comfort foods, especially at this time of year.
Always, and especially with loads of cheese!