It’s the day after Christmas and our fridge is still full of food. I love to cook for the holidays, so we traditionally have ham or shrimp on Christmas Eve and a standing rib roast on Christmas Day. This year we had ham, rice and asparagus with a creamy Dijon sauce on Christmas Eve. This recipe for risotto with ham and peas is an excellent use of the leftover ham, of which we have too much.
Seriously, we have a lot of ham. My husband can eat ham in sandwiches for weeks, or just plain ham stacked with cheese, but I get sick of having the same old thing all the time. I want variation, adventure, and maybe something green once in a while. Pickles don’t count as green veggies for me. Seriously, his lunch often consists of ham, cheese and pickles. There are no legit veggies in that combo.
In contrast, this recipe for risotto with ham and peas has a very nice mix of meat, cheese, carbs, and one of my favorite veggies – snow pea pods. I love the thin, crisp texture and the bright flavor. Put it all together and you have a creamy, comforting dish that allows you to clean out your fridge. Non-boring leftovers are the best.
Tips & Tricks for Ham Risotto and Snow Peas
- Making risotto requires constant attention and stirring, so make sure you don’t need to multi-task once you start cooking.
- Keep the broth in the sauce pan hot while you’re stirring in the portions to the rice. This makes sure the dish cooks evenly and is the key to making creamy risotto.
- Don’t add the snow peas until the end. It only takes a few minutes to cook snow peas. You want them crisp to make a nice texture contrast with the soft, creamy rice. No one wants mushy snow peas.
Ham Risotto with Snow Peas
Course: DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Moderate6
servings10
minutes30
482
kcalIngredients
1 Tbls olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 Tbls fresh thyme, minced
2 cups ham, chopped, more if you’re so inclined
2 cups Arborio rice
6 cups chicken stock
3 cups snow pea pods, ends trimmed
1 cup grated Asiago cheese for topping
Directions
- Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat, add the onions and thyme, and saute until soft.
- Heat the chicken stock in a separate sauce pan until it’s almost boiling, then keep it on the heat throughout the recipe.
- Add the ham and rice to the onions, stirring to mix.
- Add about one cup of the stock, and stir until it’s absorbed.
Risotto is an active recipe, requiring constant stirring while the liquid is being absorbed. - Continue to add the hot stock in one-cup increments, stirring until the liquid is absorbed.
- Add the snow peas with the last portion of hot stock, stir until the rice absorbs all of hte liquid.
- Serve with grated Asiago cheese on top.
Notes
- Makes 6 generous portions
Love this!!! Always need a new recipe for using up leftover ham and this looks delicious!! My daughter feels the same way about ham but I love it!!
My husband loves it too. And, I just took advantage of a sale and bought a huge one to divide and freeze. I'll definitely be posting more recipes soon! Thanks for stopping by!