This is one of my all-time favorite dishes and probably my favorite “leftovers” dish, so much so that I make a huge portion just so I can eat the leftovers for the next few meals (breakfast included!). The original recipe is good but I’ve added some modifications. Swapping out the regular pasta for whole wheat pasta, prosciutto for ham (leftover holiday ham works great), 2% milk for Whole milk and adding some mozzarella to the fontina. Also with everything, I tend to avoid enriched white flour and use whole wheat flour, it dramatically changes the taste and texture of food but to me its worth it.

Also, I changed the order of the steps so I could dirty less dishes and just use one 4-qrt sauce pot. Hey, I’m all about efficiency!
Bechamel sauce:
- 1 stick unsalted butter (4 ounces)
- 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 quart whole milk, at room temperature (we use 2%)
- Pinch fresh nutmeg
- Sea salt and white pepper
- 1 cup grated fontina
1/2 pound thinly sliced prosciutto, julienned (we have also used big chunks of ham)
1 pound dry rigatoni
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Cook the pasta al dente, drain in a colander and set aside.
Bechamel sauce:
In a 2 quart saucepan, melt the butter over low-medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Always stirring, gradually add the milk and continue to whisk until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in nutmeg, 1/2 cup fontina, prosciutto(ham) and season with salt and white pepper.
Into a greased 13 by 9-inch baking dish, pour the pasta with cream sauce. Mix cream sauce and pasta thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Smooth out top and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup fontina/mozzarella. Dot the top with diced butter and bake in oven for 25 minutes or until bubbling and the top is golden brown.
Here’s the original Giada recipe