Ham + Pasta Skillet

I've been posting my recipes on my Facebook and Instagram accounts as well as my stories and the responses have been insane. And you guys have asked for me to post the recipes and well, i'm finally doing it. I've been stalling obviously, lol.

So I had left over ham from Christmas and Nate always wants me to make something for him - go figure. I thought well, what the hell am I going to make with this? I came up with this Ham and Pasta Skillet - that Nate renamed to "Ashley's Primavera".

You know when you wing some recipes and just go with the flow, not really expecting something spectacular? Well, this is one of those, it's THAT good. Now, the bad part is that Nate wants me to make it ALL THE TIME. I have already made this 3 times now in less than like a week in a half. I even had to buy more damn ham.

This video is obviously from my social media but that's how it looks - trust me, it's so so freaking bomb.

Now I know what you're thinking....where's the damn recipe? Here you go:

Ham and Pasta Skillet AKA "Ashley's Primavera"

Ingredients:

· 2 cups small pasta – I used Penne recently

· 3 tablespoons olive oil

· 1 tablespoon butter

· 3 cups fully cooked ham, diced

· 1 large sweet red or green pepper, diced

· 1/2 medium onion, chopped (I also use chives as well)

· ¼ cup sundried tomatoes (chopped up)

· 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

· 2 garlic cloves, minced (I always add more but start with this)

· 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

· 1/2 tsp dried oregano

· Dash of red pepper flakes

· Dash of Cajun seasoning and Cayenne Pepper (omit the CP if you don’t like a bit of heat)

· Salt and Pepper (I use pink salt)

· 1 1/2 cups chicken broth or chicken stock

· 2-3 Tbsp. of all-purpose flour

· 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

· 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese and a little bit of smoked gouda cheese. (You could really use any combination of cheese of your choice)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta until al dente since pasta will continue to cook and soak up liquid when added to the skillet.

2. While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat until butter is melted. Add pepper, onion, and garlic, sun dried tomatoes, and cook until vegetables are tender, about 4-6 minutes. Add ham, basil, oregano and other seasonings listed above (I use both fresh herbs and doTERRA essential oils) and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in broth (or stock) and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Then add the flour, whisking it in. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half (at first it looks like too much liquid, but it’ll simmer down)

3. Add the pasta into ham and vegetable mixture. Add the parmesan cheese and other cheese of your choice. Sprinkle parsley and remaining parmesan cheese over the top of the pasta.

Side note: These are the doTERRA Essential Oils I used WITH the dried cut up spices. These oils are 50-70 times more powerful than herbs and spices. Trust me, be careful how much you put in. I put in a couple drops each because I like a TON of flavor. BOMB. If you don't already have the best quality grade of oils, check out more information here.