Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Peas and Ham

I have been making this dish for a while now, but finally remembered to blog it!  It's a yummy baked mac and cheese with a couple of twists.  I modified the Campbell's recipe to make it my own, and it's always a hit.  This batch is a double of the original recipe, so if you don't need a lot, you can cut everything in half.

Ingredients:

2 cans condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup

1 soup can milk

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 cups (about half of a 16 oz box) uncooked elbow noodles (you can also use rotini or small shells)

2 cups frozen peas

1 large or 2 small ham steaks, diced.

Preparation and Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Start cooking the noodles to desired consistency.  While the noodles are cooking, in a 3 qt casserole dish, combine soup, milk, and pepper.  I also added a little bit of garlic powder.  Stir to mix as best you can.  Add the peas and diced ham.  Drain the noodles, and add to dish.  Stir everything until well combined.  Put in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes (20-25 if making a half batch).  Check half way through, pull dish out of the oven to stir mix to ensure even cooking.  Return to oven and finish baking.

Recommendations:

If you want the cheese to be a little creamier, use less noodles, and add the noodles slowly so you can gauge the sauce to noodle ratio.  I have made this with too much before and the leftovers aren't very cheesy.  Also feel free to add more peas or ham if you want to.  I like to remove the skin on the outer edge of the ham steak, but that's my preference.  It doesn't make too much of a difference if you leave it on.  If you want a vegetarian meal, feel free to omit the ham, and add in other veggies or none at all if you like. 
I tend to leave the casserole in a little longer than listed because it's very thick and doesn't always cook through in the middle, but that's why I added the stirring half way through.  Just keep an eye on it if you decide to let it bake a little longer.

The Verdict:

This is a go to recipe in our house.  Everyone likes it, it lasts for a while, and we can live off of it for most of the week.  I made the original once, and it was VERY thick, so I decided to make the few additions.  Now it's a budget friendly go to recipe that I can always fall back on!

Click here to download a printable recipe page!