AD – This recipe is created in collaboration with and contains links to Tights.no. Gratin with Ham and Cheese! (keto, gluten-free) – Originally, we planned to call this dish something else because it tastes very similar to something my dear parents used to make and is one of my favorite dishes, namely my mom’s simple one-pot mac ‘n cheese, or “makaronimat” as we call it in our family.
Inspiration for Gratin with Ham and Cheese!
Mom’s mac ‘n cheese is simply cooked macaroni with lots of cheese stirred in and melted into the hot macaroni. She added either ham, sausage bits, or pieces of boiled pig’s knuckle. Usually, it was whatever we had in the refrigerator. The type of cheese varied too, depending on what was available in the fridge. Thus, the dish was always a little different each time. Afterwards, she fried the dish in a pan so you got parts with crispy crusts. Absolutely fantastic but unfortunately entirely impossible to achieve 100% on keto. Trust me, we’ve tried. Our recipe for gratin with ham and cheese is the closest we’ve come, and we’re especially excited to share this recipe with you.
The Ingredients!
As mentioned, you can use both ham, sausage bits, or pieces of boiled pig’s knuckle in our keto-friendly recipe for gratin with ham and cheese; it will be equally delicious no matter what you choose. Ham from the leg or deli ham also doesn’t matter much; here, we recommend using what you like best.
If you don’t want to make pasta yourself, you can easily use two packages of well-rinsed lasagna sheets from tights.no. Since homemade keto pasta contains psyllium husk, it absorbs some liquid, and therefore, the gratin may be perceived as somewhat wetter when using other pasta products.
The recipe for Gratin with Ham and Cheese! (keto, gluten-free)!
Homemade keto pasta in a delightful cheese sauce, pieces of ham, plenty of leeks, and a thick delicious cheese topping – heavenly!
The recipe is based on our recipe for sausage and macaroni gratin.
- 3 dl cream
- 125 g cream cheese, plain
- 150 g grated cheese
- Salt, pepper, to taste
- 600 g optional ham or sausage pieces
- 2 small eggs
- 100 g leeks
- 150 g cheese for topping.
- "Macaroni"
- 4 eggs
- 125 g cream cheese, plain
- 5 tsp Sunnrask psyllium husk
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius.
- Pour cream and cream cheese into a saucepan and stir until the cream cheese is completely dissolved.
- Bring to a boil and let it simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in 150 g of cheese until it is completely melted into the sauce.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Make pasta rings:
- Whisk together eggs and cream cheese.
- Add psyllium husk and whisk until well combined.
- Let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Lightly whisk the dough again.
- Grease 2 pieces of baking paper and roll out the dough between them.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes with both sheets of baking paper.
- Remove from the oven and fold together.
- Cut into squares of approximately 1.5 x 1.5 cm.
- Add ham and "macaroni" to the cheese sauce.
- Stir in the egg yolk.
- Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gently fold it into the sauce, add leeks at the end.
- Spread the mixture in an ovenproof dish and cover with aluminum foil. It should first bake without the cheese to avoid it becoming hard and overcooked.
- Bake on the second lowest rack at 200°C for a total of 35 minutes - Remove the foil and sprinkle with cheese when there are about 15 minutes left of the baking time. Bake until the cheese is completely melted and just starting to turn golden
