Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Spicy Ham Pasta



This is a very quick dinner, and surprisingly tasty. You can, of course, vary the spices according to your preference. Fresh ginger would certainly be nice - I didn't have any around though.

Spicy Ham Pasta
Serves 3-4

200 g smoked ham, finely diced
1/2 yellow bellpepper, finely diced
handful of corn
1 tbsp cornstarch
150 ml milk
200 ml crème fraîche (low fat is fine)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp ground ginger
1-2 tsp sambal oelek (hot chili paste)
pasta of your choice

Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water. (If you're using frozen corn like I do, toss it in the hot pasta water when the pasta is ready.) Mix corn starch into the milk in a saucepan. Add the crème fraîche, and the garlic, sambal oelek, ginger, ham and pepper. (And corn, if you're not using frozen.)

Let the sauce cook on medium heat for a few minutes, and adjust seasoning. When pasta is ready, drain and add to the sauce. Serve immediately.

Het Skinkpasta

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jill Dupleix's food is fantastic! But forget everything about Jamie Oliver's FlavourShaker it's rubbish, tried a friends out and if you are not the Hulk or Superman then it will never work.

Anonymous said...

Hi Anne,

I could use a plate full of that right now. Yum!

Anne said...

Anonymous - I don't know that much about Jill Dupleix, but I have one of her "simple" books (can't remember which one right now) and I've tried a few recipes. All good! Thank you for the warning about the FlavourShaker!! Sounds reasonable!

Ivonne - :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recipe Anne, this is definately my kind of fast food

Anonymous said...

Hi Anne,
This seems to be a great recipe but you should try one of my favorite ham pasta I learned in Northern Italy, or , more specifically San Daniele del Fruli. It is very simple and really fantastic. Here is it: The best pasta for it is Tagliolini but you may also use Tagliatele just make sure you don't over-cook it. Pasta has to be drained just before it is cooked. Make sure you also reserve some cooking water as it will serve to loosen your souce a bit. Souce is really simple. Cut your prosciutto (preferably San Daniele ham but Pharma is also OK if fresh and delicate) in 5-10mm by 7-10cm stripes. Put some olive oil on a frying pan, add the ham, season with some pepper (no salt!) and cook it on medium to low heat. When ham gets some colour and starts giving up its juices add the cream (ideally classic Italian panna de cocina, but never a sour cream) in sufficient quantity to make a souce. Now turn the heat to low and cook it for 7-10 min so that the souce gets the ham taste. When ready add your cooked pasta and some of the reserved water; mix well until all pasta is nicely covered with the souce. By now the pasta should be really al dente so season it a bit to your taste and serve immediately. You may add some parmesan but not too much as souce is already very creamy and full taste. I know it sounds almost too simple but, if done properly, it is just great!!! Good luck! AB