Penne with Ham and Parmesan

This is a full-on penne pasta dish recipe with ham, mushrooms, and spinach in a Parmesan cheese sauce flavored with basil.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Calories: 608 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 1 (12 ounce) package penne pasta
• 1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 cups 1-inch strips cooked ham

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Stir 1/2 teaspoon salt into a pot of water; bring to a boil. Stir penne pasta into the boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes; drain.

Step 2

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir ham and mushrooms in hot butter until the mushrooms are softened, 3 to 4 minutes.

Step 3

Stir flour, remaining salt, and bay leaf into the ham mixture; cook and stir until flour begins to bind butter into a paste, about 2 minutes. Stream milk into the skillet while stirring. Melt Parmesan cheese into the milk mixture; add basil and continue cooking and stirring until the milk thickens into a sauce, 2 to 3 minutes.

Step 4

Remove skillet from heat and immediately stir spinach into the sauce; add to drained pasta and stir to coat the pasta.