Hall Family Roman Holiday Casserole [with Gluten-Free option]

This Hall Family Roman Holiday Casserole is a great way to use up leftover ham from the holidays.

♪ We wish you a Merry…

Whaaaat? What do you mean it’s not time for singing Christmas songs?

It is Christmas in July, you know…today is July 25th. It’s exactly five months until Christmas!

So, get out your Santa hat and start wrapping presents! You only have five months! But, at least you’ll know what to make the day AFTER Christmas when you have lots of leftover ham…this Hall Family Roman Holiday Casserole!

First of all, let me start by saying that no one in the Hall family is actually Italian, so when I married Greg and he raved about this dish that was passed down from his English-Scottish grandmother, I was a little bit skeptical, especially being part Italian and never hearing of anything like it.

If you search for “Roman Holiday” online, aside from the popular movie, you will find recipes for similar casseroles, but most are made with ground beef.

So, why is this one made with ham…and CARROTS?

Hmmm…enquiring minds want to know! 😉

Anyway, I set out on a quest to find the answer. I would leave no stone unturned, climb the highest mountain, dive to the bottom of the sea, take a plane to the United Kingdom to find a relative of the late Grandma Hall…oh, whatever…I just asked my mother-in-law!

It turns out that the recipe was created as a way to use up holiday leftovers, both at Easter and Christmas. I suppose Grandma Hall adapted the traditional dish to incorporate her leftover ham and carrots.

Soooooo, since Grandma Hall adapted the recipe, I took the liberty of adapting it just a little bit more. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. You see, the recipe card called for cubed cheddar cheese inside plus more grated over top, peeled and chopped carrots, chopped celery and chopped onion. I don’t know about you, but after I just spent countless hours cooking for the holidays, the last thing I want to do is more CHOPPING and GRATING!

I noticed that the recipe used stewed tomatoes. Maybe Grandma Hall made hers from scratch, but I usually buy mine in a can. When I got to the grocery store, I realized that stewed tomatoes come in so many kinds…including ones with onions and celery! Woohoo! No chopping! And as a bonus, they happened to have bell pepper. Well, that sounded good to me, so in the cart they went!

And since I didn’t have any leftover carrots, I picked up some canned carrots too…and some pre-shredded cheese!

So, that left the only actual cutting to be done for the ham.

There’s nothing like an easy recipe at holiday time!

Learn how to make it

Cook pasta according to package directions.

After draining, add pasta to a large bowl.

Add stewed tomatoes, carrots, ham and cheese. Stir to combine.
Scoop into a casserole dish sprayed with olive oil cooking spray and top with additional cheese.
Bake on 375°F for 30 minutes, turning casserole dish 180° degrees halfway through cooking.

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