Pea and Ham Pasta

I was in Oxford recently and as I was waiting for some new friends that I had never met and so I waited in Blackwell’s Bookshop and stumbled across this recipe: I admit that I have never made it and that I may have completely forgotten the actual recipe. I also think the blurb mentioned that the dish is more about peas than it is pasta – so bare that in mind.

 

But if inspiration breeds creativity then a few words are all you need.

 

• Slug of oil.
• One onion

Diced, perhaps finely if memory serves me well… now from here on in is where the rest of the recipe gets a little hazy…hehe.

• 200 – 400g the best ham you can afford.

I would imagine that off the bone would be best… but as I said… no idea… just don’t use spam… as it has more application at a building site than in a kitchen (or in Nana’s bin – we didn’t mean to hurt her feelings).

• 600 – 800g frozen peas or canned…whatever Trevor.

Having said that I would expect a very different taste depending on which you use.

• 200ml white wine.

Make sure that it is drinkable. I imagine a dry white or sav blanc… not riesling or a sweet one.

• 200ml chicken or vege stock… ok now I am making shit up… but it could still be faithful to the recipe.

Try it! Either use stock cubes and follow instructions or use pre-made tetra-pak stuff.

• Perhaps 200g of pasta… we’ll see…
• Pretty certain that a handful of mint comes in at this point too!

 

Now for the fun part (esp. when you have no idea what your ingredients are supposed to be and have never made it before in your life).

 

1. Heat the oil over a mid-high stove and brown/sauté the onion. Add the ham and slightly caramelise.
2. Add the wine and reduce to above half the volume – I totally made this bit up…
3. Add the peas and the stock and let that simmer too, letting the peas turn a bit mushy… whilst you…
4. Cook the pasta in a separate pot for 5 minute less than is recommended on the directions and then drain. Add to the pea mixture on the stove and cook for a further 5 min or until pasta is al dente… again I don’t really know if the pasta is supposed to soak up all the liquid or if there is supposed to be a jus type thing going on… but as long as it is flavourful I guess any liquid can’t hurt and if you need more liquid just add stock? Maybe question marks are not ideal in recipe writing?
5. Remove from the heat and fold through fresh mint (whole leaves or ripped). However I also thought that heat makes mint go black… so maybe do this at the very last minute.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve with parmesan cheese and warm crusty bread.

 

Disclaimer: I have no idea. Sounds kinda fun though right?