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My fave, comfort food sandwich is turned into a delicious comfort food pasta casserole.  Ham and Swiss Pasta has all the flavors of the sandwich in an easy casserole that’s sure to please the whole family.

I think the hubs is a little sandwiched out.  He’s been home for lunch and isn’t a huge fan of leftovers like I am.  So, that leaves soup and sandwiches.  Oh, and he gets tired of eating those too much, too.

Consequently, last night’s dinner plan was bumped.  Last night, I planned to make chili joes.  I started getting all the ingredients ready and realized I hadn’t purchased some tomato sauce, which was okay  because I knew I had some canned tomatoes in the pantry that I could easily blend into some “sauce” type something to put in the joes.

Well, he took that as an opportunity to say, “Now what?”  So, I told him I would use the canned tomatoes.  “Or?”  “Or we make the next item on the menu?”  And that’s exactly what we did.  We made the next thing on the menu which is this Ham and Cheese Pasta.

I made this before.  However, it just wasn’t up the par.  The flavors weren’t quite there yet.  It needed a few more rounds of editing.  No, not everything I make comes out perfectly every time.  Honestly, I’m not THAT good.  Actually, nowhere near that good.  LOL

Anyway.

Since he went to the store with me again this week (I could get used to that) he saw what was on the menu and I think he was really looking forward to eating this dish.  And to be honest, I was, too.  I mean, who wouldn’t love ham, Swiss cheese, and creamy pasta all baked into a delicious and hearty casserole that requires little to no prep work and only has to bake in the oven for dinner?

Yup, you heard me.  Little prep work and just has to bake.  Boil pasta – we used rigatoni- and then combine the rest of the ingredients with the exception of the a little Swiss in a large mixing bowl.  Once the pasta is cooked you stir that in and dump it all out into a casserole dish and bake.  Top with cheese and bake some more.  Voila.  Dinner is on the table.

And it’s a good dinner!!  It’s also a budget friendly dinner.  Pasta = cheap.  Ham? Some packages can be pricey, but I bought large diced package for about $4, some Swiss about $3, two cans of cream of chicken soup $2, herbs and spices you should already have along with some milk or cream.  So, this dinner for 4 to 6 is like $11 at the most?  That’s pretty budget friendly per serving fo sho!!

I know I know, y’all are saying, “But, Christie, this is like a sandwich only in pasta form.”

Yeah, I realize that, but he didn’t.  And that’s the important part; he didn’t realize he was eating a sandwich in some pasta.  It didn’t have mayo or mustard or any tomatoes or lettuce.  I guess, to him, that meant it wasn’t a sandwich.  It did remind me of a hot ham and cheese ‘wich though.  So so good.  I think those are one of my fave sandwiches.

I remember having these for lunch at home.  We’d microwave the ham on a plate them top with some cheese and put the whole thing on some toast, a hamburger bun, or a hoagie roll.  Whatever we had available to put this delicious sandwich meat on for lunch.  They truly are a comfort food for me.  But I haven’t had one in a long time.

I did have a ham and cheese sandwich this past weekend on our antique tour of Adamstown, PA.  If you haven’t been there and love antiques, then what are you waiting for?  I highly recommend the Comfort Inn.  They were excellent to us when we reported that the room was not so aromatic as we had hoped.

Yup.  It stank.  To high heaven, but they discounted the room and told us to let them know when we were back in town and they would definitely take care of us.  OH and I highly recommend signing up for their discount club.  You get a free drink of choice at the bar.  Just saying.

While we were there we stopped at Dave’s Diner.  They have THE BEST lunch ‘wiches.  Seriously.  THE BEST!  The hubs had a roasted chicken club that look like a spider with bacon legs.  I had the ham and cheese grilled cheese.  It came with a 1/2″ thick slab ‘o ham between crispy bread and creamy cheese.  And their fries??  To die for!!  They were so crispy on the outside and have that perfect texture on the inside.  That’s what I remember from the last time we were there.  Best fries ever.

And this?  Best casserole ever!  We used fat free ham and fat free Swiss cheese to make sure it’s within the hub’ cholesterol range and not spiking it for him.  But don’t let all that low fat and fat free mess throw you.  The flavor in this dish is off the hook!  The ham is delicious  The cheese has the best Swiss flavor.  The peas add a little texture and sweetness.  The chicken soup makes it all creamy good.  And finally, the pasta makes it all hearty and comfort like.

Pasta for me is comfort food.  Is it for you?  What’s your favorite ham and Swiss dish?  Or your fave ‘wich?