It has a peanut butter fudge flavor. a simple, speedy sauce or topping. On a whim, I just threw this together one night, and I loved the way it turned out. Because it was what I had on hand, I used evaporated milk, but it worked out well! The amounts of honey and peanut butter are approximations based on eyeballing. Use your best judgment to achieve the desired thickness. You can’t go wrong with this as long as you don’t burn it. It’s crucial to keep stirring and prevent the bottom from burning. Serve warm, over ice cream, or on toast with a fresh banana.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 5 |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ pound cooked ham, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 4 cups half-and-half
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- ¼ cup onion, chopped
- 1 ½ cups frozen green peas
- 9 ounces fresh cheese-filled tortellini
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and ham and saute for 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
- Pour in half-and-half and cheese, stirring frequently, until sauce starts to thicken and bubble. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add tortellini and cook to desired doneness, or according to package directions. Add peas to boiling tortellini in the final minute of cooking. Drain from water and toss with ham and sauce mixture.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 583 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 34 g |
| Cholesterol | 133 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 27 g |
| Saturated Fat | 22 g |
| Sodium | 1169 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 39 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Loved the Recipe , Added Spinach as well as the peas & Ham Must remember not to “over thicken ” the cream sauce as it “clotts”on the plate
I made this and it turned out really well! Used spinach and cheese tortellini. I also used heavy cream instead of the half & half based on someone else’s review. Love this and it really was quick and easy.
Good recipe! It was a bit liquidy and I would reduce the amount of cream or cook longer. I omitted the onions. Next time I would add some nutmeg and parsley. Will make again!
12/8/20 – sounded great but didn’t work out for me. The flavor combination was great and the sauce was very good but the texture was clumped. I did used the grated parm from the store (not fresh or block) but definitely cooked it long enough, it just never smoothed out. Other than the appearance, it tasted good. Gave four stars since it’s likely my error.
This recipe turned out well for me and is delicious I had use half milk and half cream because I didn’t have half and half. It is a little on rich side. To the people that had runny sauce, try letting it cook longer. My sauce cooked for about 15-20 minutes (after it started bubbling) on medium heat before it was the thickness I wanted.
Delicious!!
Follow the directions. I overcooked the tortellini and did not get al dente pasta. This dish really surprised us in simplicity and flavor. lots and lots of flavor. This is now added to one of my quick and easy favs.
I made this for my husband who loves this type of dish. He was very pleasantly surprised I did not bring it home from the local Italian restaurant! Very good, easy, and will definitely make it again! Thanks!
This is tortellini with some sort of cream sauce not Carbonara. Having said that The recipe was a little bland.. I feel like Ham wasnt the best choice. I would have gone with pancetta or bacon and probably just made an alfredo sauce… But then I guess that a totally different recipe.
This was very good! I made a couple of minor adjustments by adding 1 clove minced garlic and I did need to add a little thickening of flour in water. There is a lot of sauce so when I served it, I served it in a bowl. If you don’t want it that saucy then I would say you can easily use the larger 20 oz tortellini package with more of the peas and ham as well.
Very good. Can’t believe this is the first time I have used tortellini, love it. This was a little thin for my taste – butloved it.
This recipe is quick, easy, and delicious. Its yummy and kids like it. I doubled it the recipe for leftovers for SO to bring to work. Everyone liked it, it was easy, win/win. Maybe not fancy, but prefect for what it is.
This is a great recipe for adjusting. I did not have ham so i used Italian meatballs chopped up. I sauteed onion, garlic and fresh mushrooms. Added my meat and cooked it down. Added the peas. I only had 3 cups fat free half and half so i added a cup of plain yogurt. I didn’t have the Parmesan but had Asiago so i used it. If your liquid is still too thin after cooking it down you can always add some corn starch. It had a nice flavor, the family liked it. Next time i will used spinach or kale.
Super yummy. I replaced the ham with thick bacon and I added 8oz of Philadelphia Kraft Cream cheese. I also sauté some garlic and added the half and half and Parmesan cheese slowly to get the sauce to come out thicker. My family loves it
This is amazing ! Salt and peppered the onion well. Cut the half in half down to 2 cups. It thickened wonderfully. So wonderful
I just used a cup of 18% cream and 1 cup of 1% milk. It thickened beautifully, and I added a touch more milk just prior to serving. I changed the ham for chopped pancetta and it was perfect. Would definitely make this again!
Family favorite, often requested. I sometimes swap in heavy cream for the half and half (for no real reason). Also because one son doesn’t like peas, I sometimes substitute broccoli.
nothing like Carbonara
I made this last night for dinner. It was fast and easy, which is what I need with my busy schedule. The only thing I changed was that I only used 2 cups of half and half. I used Boars Head Honey ham. I doubled the amount of peas. I love peas! Excellent recipe!
This was, of course, very delicious! I’ll have to check the comments to see if anyone made it a little lower in fat. Having said that, I’ll probably include some bacon the next time I make it for a more authentic carbonara flavor. Thanks for sharing!
This is a great recipe as written, besides the 4C half and half… I find that to be way too much, 2C works just fine.