Name: Leftover Ham, Asparagus & Lemon Pasta (Gluten & Dairy Free!)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 5
Ingredients: 2 Tablespoons vegan butter; 1 Tablespoon gluten-free all purpose flour (see post above); 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt; 1 Cup Rice milk; 1/4 Cup nutritional yeast; Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon; Salt and pepper to taste; 12 ounces gluten-free short pasta; 1-2 Tablespoon Olive Oil; Half a bunch of asparagus, chopped; 1 Teaspoon Garlic Salt; 1 Package Pre Cubed Ham, about 1-2 Cups (or leftover ham, cubed); 1 Cup Frozen Peas

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If springtime were a pasta dish, this would be it! Great for using up leftover Easter ham, or simplify by just buying packaged cubed ham. This dish has your pasta, veggies and protein all wrapped up in a yummy lemon sauce. Bright, light and delicious you’ll love this Leftover Ham Asparagus & Lemon Pasta that’s free of: gluten, dairy, egg, fish, shellfish, peanut and tree nuts, making it top-8-free as well!

Why I Love This Ham, Asparagus & Lemon Pasta

I adore all things that have asparagus in them. Just seeing that in the title makes me want to eat it. Add in yummy, salty cubes of ham, pasta (hello carbs!) and drizzle it in a light lemon sauce and I am 100% in!

Asparagus and lemon just scream spring to me and this is truly one of my favorite spring dinners. We have it all spring and summer long.

As the title suggests, it’s great to use up leftover Easter (or Sunday) hams. But, we often don’t buy a big ham, so I’ll be some pre-packaged cubed ham (like Farmland Fully Cooked Diced Ham) and viola–easy peasy.

This is also great because it’s all done on the stove top, so no need to heat up your house. It’s done in less than 30 minutes for a delectable dinner. Winning!

How this Ham, Asparagus & Lemon Pasta is gluten free

If you’re like us and need this dish to be wheat and gluten free, it’s very simple. There’s only two ingredients that have gluten in it and they’re the pasta and flour. We simply swap it out for our favorite gluten free short pasta and all purpose gluten free flour and it’s good to go.

For the pasta: We enjoy both Jovial and Barilla gluten free pasta in either the rotini, fusilli or penne.
For the gluten free flour: You can use my homemade gluten free flour blend or any store bought blend you prefer. I try to stick to blends that are rice/potato/tapioca blends. If some have sorghum, I find that to be just fine too.

As always, gluten can sneak in everything, so even though the rest of the ingredients SHOULD be gluten free, be sure to always read every label, just to be safe.

If you don’t need it to be gluten free, use whatever pasta you prefer and regular wheat flour.

How is this Ham, Asparagus & Lemon Pasta dairy free?

There are three dairy-free swaps that need to be made in this recipe, let’s look at each one:

Butter substitute: I prefer to use Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, but feel free to use whichever dairy free or vegan butter you prefer. They also have a soy free version if you need it.
Milk substitute: You can really go either way with this one. You can stick with full fat coconut milk or coconut cream. I do this often, but didn’t want any coconut taste coming through (though it is nice for additional thickness) so instead I went with rice milk. I prefer rice milk to other milk alternatives, because even though it is thin (this recipe gets thickened with gluten free flour) it does not have an after taste like many of the others do. Feel free to use what works for your diet. If the dish ends up being too thick or thin, you can adjust it as you see fit.
Parmesan cheese substitute: I know some people do not care for nutritional yeast, and if that’s your thing you can omit it, or sub in your other favorite dairy-free cheese. I find it helps to thicken the sauce and gives a good “cheesy” flavor to the overall sauce just like how cheesy my mac and cheese recipe is. If you’ve never used nutritional yeast and are worried you won’t use it all up, I have multiple recipes that use nutritional yeast. I think you’ll find you like it.

If you can do dairy, feel free to use the regular ingredients.

Is this Ham, Asparagus & Lemon Pasta allergy friendly?

Yes it is! If made the way I call for it, this dish is free of the top eight allergens: wheat/gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish free. More pasta for everyone!

How to store and reheat leftovers:

Store leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge. Leftovers keep for 2-3 days. Reheat leftovers in the microwave when you’re ready to eat.

DO I HAVE ANY OTHER GLUTEN AND DAIRY FREE PASTA SALAD RECIPES?

I told you I loved pasta salads! All of my pasta salads are: gluten, dairy and egg free. (With options to add those back in if you don’t need to avoid them.) Here’s to a summer full of delicious pasta salads!

Do I Have a Video Showing How to Make Ham, Asparagus & Lemon Pasta?

Yes I do! I made a Tiktok video, which is a short and sweet video giving you a general overview of how to make this recipe. Enjoy!

@allergyawesomenessHam, Asparagus & Lemon Pasta that’s ##glutenfree & ##dairyfree. ##allergyfriendly ##foodallergymom ♬ Baby Work It – Your Favourite Garçon

Leftover Ham, Asparagus & Lemon Pasta (Gluten & Dairy Free!)

Yield: 5-6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

If springtime were a pasta dish, this would be it! Great for using up leftover Easter ham, or simplify by just buying packaged cubed ham. This dish has your pasta, veggies and protein all wrapped up in a yummy lemon sauce. Bright, light and delicious you'll love this Leftover Ham Asparagus & Lemon Pasta that's free of: gluten, dairy, egg, fish, shellfish, peanut and tree nuts, making it top-8-free as well!

Ingredients

12 ounces gluten-free short pasta
1-2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Half a bunch of asparagus, chopped
1 Teaspoon Garlic Salt
1 Package Pre Cubed Ham, about 1-2 Cups (or leftover ham, cubed)
1 Cup Frozen Peas

CREAM SAUCE

2 Tablespoons vegan butter
1 Tablespoon gluten-free all purpose flour (see post above)
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1 Cup Rice milk
1/4 Cup nutritional yeast
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook pasta according to directions for al dente, drain and set aside.
Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and add the asparagus and 1 teaspoon garlic salt.

Stir until asparagus is cooked, but not soggy. Move to a plate and set aside.

Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and place your cubed ham. Cook until the ham begins to brown and caramelize. Remove it to the plate with the asparagus.

To the empty skillet, add the butter and once melted, quickly whisk in the garlic powder and flour until combined.

Add the rice milk, nutritional yeast, lemon zest and lemon juice and continue to whisk until it begins to thicken.
Taste and then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add the asparagus and ham back in the skillet along with the drained pasta and peas. Toss to coat and serve warm.

(This sauce soaks into the pasta, so if you prefer a more wet pasta, feel free to double the sauce.)

Notes

If you're looking for some gluten and dairy free dinners, check out my cookbook: An Allergy Mom's Lifesaving Instant Pot Cookbook.

*Our allergies, while severe and that get re-tested yearly, are such that we can go strictly by what's on the label. I do not call companies to see what things are derived from, or call manufacturers to see about potential cross contact. If your allergies require you to do so, please do your own homework. I cannot assure you of any ingredient's safety, only you can do that. I simply share what works for our family.

**If you are going to feed this to someone with food allergies, and you yourself do not have food allergies, I HIGHLY recommend having them check every single brand and ingredient you are using, to ensure they're OK with each part of the recipe. And, to make sure you've talked to them about how to avoid cross contamination in your kitchen.

Adapted from: Ohsweetbasil

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 236Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 699mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 10g

DON’T FORGET TO PIN IT, SO YOU DONT’ LOSE IT. BE SURE WHILE YOU’RE THERE YOU CHECK OUT MY OTHER ALLERGY FRIENDLY PINTEREST BOARDS.

Megan Lavin

Hi! I’m Megan, a mom to four kids, two with multiple food allergies & one with EOE. I’m a published cookbook author that constantly tweaks recipes to make them allergy friendly–it’s an addiction. I share every recipe & tip with you, to help you eat like you did before food allergies & dietary restrictions. You can still be awesome, even with food allergies!

Comments

Wanda

April 13, 2024 at 6:49 PM

A great way to use left-over ham! Really enjoyed this and will make it again. I used almond milk, as that was all I had, and I had to thicken with arrowroot flour; it turned out very well. Thank you for a great recipe!

- Megan Lavin
  
  April 14, 2024 at 3:15 PM
  
  Thanks so much Wanda. I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it, and appreciate the extra notes about almond milk for future readers in case they’d like to use it too! Cheers.
  
Megan

January 1, 2022 at 11:16 AM

The saltiness of the ham and asparagus. So well with the lemon he sauce. My whole family loved this! We will be making again for sure

- DoorDash
  
  February 25, 2022 at 7:12 PM
  
  This is a really great idea for the holiday. My younder grandsons would really have fun with this.
  
  - Megan Lavin
    
    February 26, 2022 at 10:51 AM
    
    So glad to hear it!
    
Tarin

December 29, 2021 at 9:55 AM

Thank you! This was perfect for the leftover ham I had to make myself special on Christmas because of an elimination diet. It was such an easy recipe to adapt to our specific allergies and it turned out amazing! I still have ham and have been requested to make this again for a second night in a row.This is going in our rotation for sure! You rock!

- Megan Lavin
  
  December 29, 2021 at 10:33 AM
  
  Tarin, that’s so nice of you to let me know. I’m so glad you were able to adapt it to your allergies. We had it last night too!
  
Lynsey

May 30, 2021 at 8:00 PM

This was so good! We ate it warm. And then ate the leftovers cold.

- Megan Lavin
  
  May 31, 2021 at 9:57 AM
  
  I’m so glad you liked it. Thanks so much for the comment.