Ham and Broccoli Tetrazzini

So this one is a ‘comfort food’ for my family that I have gluten-free’d and lightened up, for the sake of still being able to eat it without packing back on my lost 115 pounds!

I give full credit to my parents for helping me with this while I was gallivanting off yesterday at a Broadway touring show - absolutely loved what they did with Aladdin, by the way! They prepped my broccoli; they cooked my pasta; the ham was already diced in my freezer. So with all that - this went together in a SNAP.

It does usually take a little longer. 😊

Adding more broccoli is one of the main ways I lightened this recipe up. (Replacing the roux we usually use for sauce was the other.) Lots of vegetables is my main way of getting pasta dishes down to an actual 2oz-pasta-serving and having that be, you know, a real MEAL still.

Broccoli florets around here are bought in 2lb bags at Sams. 2lbs of broccoli to 14- or 16-ounces of pasta is a real thing, folks, if you want to eat pasta and not gain a hundred pounds! 

(Item: that’s not a figure of speech, either, from your blog-author who has lost one-hundred-and-fifteen. Note!)

Broccoli just went in one of my monster plastic bowls - into the microwave to steam! 3 minutes, stir, another three. I have found tender crisp is easier to achieve when you’re steaming if you are ‘covered’ but not too tight. Plastic wrap with a vent or two cut in it will work.

I used Tinkanyada pasta this time. Probably tastes more like regular pasta than any other gluten free stuff that I’ve tried, especially if you bake it. Macaroni and cheese’s, that sort of thing, I almost always use Tinkanyada. It has to boil like regular pasta, too, unlike the rice noodles that I just soak.

Broccoli: done. 

Pasta: done. Diced ham: thawed. 

Time for the sauce. 

I used my usual broth base to get 14 oz of broth in a four cup measure. Once that was heated and mixed in, I added a cup and a half of milk and two heaping tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk and into the microwave - I stir every minute - until boiling and thickened slightly.

**Celiacs: note that ‘Gluten Free’ right on the front of the Argo cornstarch! Unfortunately cornstarch is something you’ve got to watch out for; it’s often ground on the same machinery they use to grind wheat. They’re tricky and don’t always tell you that! Buy a cornstarch that’s MARKED Gluten Free.

I 

It is a pretty thin sauce, no matter. Fresh Parmesan thickens it up a bit too. I used - oh, I don’t know - a small handful, maybe half a cup. 

And it’s all ready to assemble! Top with fresh Parmesan too.

HAM AND BROCCOLI TETRAZZINI 

1 lb Tinkanyada pasta

8 oz diced ham

2 lbs broccoli 

14 oz water

3 T broth base

1 1/2 C milk

2 T cornstarch 

Fresh Parmesan

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Trim and steam broccoli.

Mix broth base and water. Heat to boiling. Whisk cornstarch into milk; stir into broth base. Heat until boiling and slightly thickened. 

Add 1/2 C fresh Parmesan. Stir in.

Stir together pasta, ham, and broccoli. Top with sauce and fresh Parmesan.

Servings: 8

Calories per serving: 253