Creamy Pasta with Leeks, Peas and Ham

As soon as I saw this on the cover of the Women's Day April 2012 edition I knew I'd have to make it. Talk about a super fast and easy cream sauce, it calls for cream cheese-love that! The cover shows fettuccine, inside shows rigatoni, I used pene because that's what I had.

While I am still trying to follow new recipes completely, I did just wing this one and made quite a few substitutions... I used bacon fat instead of olive oil, onion instead of leeks and Neufchatel instead of cream cheese. Also threw the frozen peas into the pasta pot for the last couple minutes of cooking, forgot the nutmeg and grated a little extra Parm on top:@)

What I'm trying to say here folks is, oh yea, you do want to bookmark this for leftover Easter ham, 

you can't go wrong!

Creamy Double Cheese Sauce With Pasta

1 lb pasta

1 Tblsp olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

S&P

3/4 C milk

4 oz cream cheese, cut into pieces (very interesting!)

1/4 C Parmesan

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. (Reserve 1/4 C pasta water in case pasta seems dry after tossing with cheese sauce). Drain and return to pot.
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat, saute onion for about 6-8 minutes.
3. Add a little salt and pepper and the garlic, cook one minute more.
4. Whisk in milk and bring to a simmer.
5. Whisk in cream cheese, Parm and nutmeg, simmer, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes.
6. Toss with pasta, adding some pasta water if it seems dry.

Creamy Pasta With Leeks, Peas and Ham

1. Make pasta and cheese sauce above.
2. Heat 1 Tblsp olive oil, saute 2 leeks until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Add 1 C frozen peas that have been thawed.
4. Add 6oz thinly sliced ham. 
5. Toss with pasta and cream sauce.

Eat well and have a happy day:@)

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