Give Lasagna An Unexpected Twist With This Meat And Cheese Pairing

Saucy, cheesy lasagna is a comfort food classic that almost never disappoints. Whoever is sitting down to dinner, the layers of savory meat, tender pasta, and rich sauce are pretty much a surefire win. Still, sometimes the classics can use a creative reinterpretation, even if just to add some variety to the weekly rotation. For lasagna lovers, that new take might mean swapping out the traditional ground meat and mozzarella cheese for ham and Monterey Jack.

Immediately, it is clear that this will be a very different lasagna. Some recipes still use a tomato sauce, but most lean the direction of a white lasagna to allow the delicate salty-sweet flavor of the ham to shine. Generally, this means layers of pasta, sliced or chopped cooked ham, and silky béchamel sauce, with plenty of cheese. The Monterey Jack is also quite delicate, mostly adding a light salty richness to the mix, but other layers of ricotta or cottage cheese are common choices to fill out the baked pasta dish.

From there, the lasagna can take on plenty of other additions. For starters, slipping some vegetables into the mix is an easy improvement. Stirring some cooked spinach into the sauce is a simple way to increase the nutrient density, but things like mushrooms or peas also work quite well, bulking up the meal while also adding layers to its flavor. The sauce itself can also be a place for experimentation, as the many béchamel-based sauces give the cook room to play.

Ham may be an unexpected ingredient to elevate lasagna, but some of the other available customizations may be more obvious. For starters, there's no reason that the cheese used must be Monterey Jack — many other types of cheese could fit the bill. Mozzarella works, but you could also use more traditional lasagna cheeses like parmesan or those that pair well with ham, such as Swiss, Gruyère, or even cheddar. These can be used on their own or in combination and sprinkled in plain or worked into the dish in the style of a simple mornay sauce.

When it comes to the ham, creative cooks have options here as well. Ham can be purchased in a variety of forms, from thin deli slices to whole spiral-cut legs. There are also both cured hams and cooked hams. Both work just fine, but the quantities used and style in which they are added will vary. Cured ham, for example, is much stronger in flavor, so it should be used more sparingly. For cooked ham, thin deli slices are easily placed on sheets of pasta, whereas a spiral ham can be diced and sprinkled into the layers. Other cured meats like salami and bacon could also fit here.

Even a comfort food classic like lasagna can do with an update from time to time, and this ham-and-cheese swap gives the dish a whole new life. Plus, with all the creative choices on the table, a clever cook can really dial in a recipe that the whole family will love.