Bring a sauce pan filled about 1/2 way with water to a boil. Season water well with salt and pepper. Add chicken, cover and turn burner off, but leave pan on burner. Let sit 30 minutes

Remove chicken from pot to safe cutting board. Bring water back to boil, adding more salt. Add pasta, stir, cover. Turn burner off and let pasta sit on burner for 10 minutes or until you’re ready for it.

Cook ham slices in hot skillet for 1-2 minutes to render any fat and to get a little char on them. Remove to cutting board. Cut ham and chicken into bite size pieces.

Drain pasta, return to sauce pan and toss with pesto. Add chicken and ham pieces to pasta and stir

Melt butter in skillet that ham was cooked in, stirring to incorporate any leftover browned bits from ham. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add flour and stir, forming a thick white roux. Pour in 1 cup milk. Cook and stir until milk is thickened then add remaining cup of milk. Cook and stir until thickened. Add cheddar cheese and stir until melted.

Add sauce to pasta pot and stir well. Turn mixture out into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Can be covered and refrigerated at this point. Just before baking slice tomatoes and drain on paper towels. Arrange tomatoes on top of casserole and season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with more Parmesan. Bake pasta at 350 for 30-45 minutes until hot and bubbly. Garnish with lots of fresh basil. Serves 4-6