Creamy Ham and Mushroom Pasta

This is one of my favourite pasta dishes from my teenage years, I'm not going to pretend for one minute that it's healthy - as it isn't, but it is definately one of my favourites and a great comfort food dish.

Ingredients are really simple; 

• Pack of good quality ham
• Pot of single cream
• 1-2 onion(s)
• 1-2 garlic clove(s)
• box of chestnut mushrooms
• fresh oregano, basil or some other herb of choice
• 500g of pasta (use whatever your favourite is)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Put pan of water on to boil
2. Dice/ crush your onion and garlic
3. Fry off in a wok or frying pan
4. Add fresh herbs
5. Add mushrooms
6. Cook until they look like this:

7. Add cream
8. Add pulled ham
9. Season to taste
10. Cover and leave on a low heat stiring occasionally
11. Put your pasta into your water, which should have by now come to the boil
12. Cook for 10 minutes for dry and 3-4 minutes for fresh pasta
13. Drain pasta
14. Empty into the sauce and turn over with wooden spoon to get a good coating of the sauce
15. Serve and enjoy!

New Twist on Macaroni Cheese for dinner (BBC Good Food)

Tonight I am cooking a new twist on Macaroni Cheese from this lovely cookbook. I honestly recommend getting as many books as you can from this series and the Good Home series too - they're are such great books, really well put together with tons of excellent and inspirational ideas.


Here is the original recipe (click to see it full size):

I have added a couple of ingredients over the course of cooking this dish over the years, I warn you it doesn't make it any healthier, but in my opinion adds to its yummy factor!

Here are my ingredients:

So I added a little grated cheese and a pack on honey roast ham...

The quantities are deceptive - this recipes does go quite a long way and also reheats from frozen very well.

Here is my finished dish:

Hope you add this recipe to your store-cupboard recipes too - let me know what you think....enjoy!

Leftovers Pasta (with ham)

Tonight for dinner I'm going to use up the left over ham from the other day in a simple tomato pasta sauce which works every time!

Ingredients

Left over ham (or any other meat you have)

Tin of tomatoes

Italian herbs

1 onion

1 garlic clove

Dash of Worcester Sauce

2 table spoons of tomato ketchup

Half a tube of tomato purée

Whatever left over veg you have (in my case the end of a jar of green sliced olives and the last little bit of a yellow sweet pepper)

500g pasta

Grated cheese of choice

Method

1. Fill pasta pan with water and get on the hob to boil
2. In a wok heat up some olive oil
3. Add chopped onion and garlic and fry off
4. Add diced meat and stir
5. Add all the remaining ingredients other than pasta and cheese and stir
6. By this point your pasta water should have come to the boil, so put your pasta on and cook for 10 minutes
7. Put lids on both pans and leave for the pasta cooking time
8. Grate the cheese
9. When your pasta is cooked, strain and then add to the wok, add cheese and then mix everything together until all nicely mixed
10. Serve and enjoy!
    

Nigella's Aromatic spiced ham (for sibling meal at ours - December 09)

Ingredients

For the ham
2.25-2.75kg/4lb 15oz-6lb 1oz boneless mild-cure gammon
250ml/8¾fl oz red wine
3 litres/5 pints 5½fl oz water (approximately)
1 large onion, halved
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 head fennel, halved
2 star anise
1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tbsp fennel seed
1 tbsp mixed peppercorns
For the glaze
approximately 16 whole cloves
4 tbsp redcurrant jelly
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp red wine vinegar

Method

1. Place the gammon in a large saucepan.
2. Add all the ingredients for the ham to the pan, adding some more water if the ham isn't covered.
3. Bring to the boil, before reducing the heat to a simmer and partially covering the pan. Cook for about two and a half to three hours - approximately one hour a kilo simmering time, plus an extra 15 minutes.
4. When you are ready to glaze the ham, preheat the oven to 230C/440F/Gas 8.
5. Remove the ham from the liquid and sit the ham on a board. Strip off the rind, and a little of the fat layer if it's very thick, and cut a diamond pattern into the remaining fat with a sharp knife in lines of about 2cm/¾in apart.
6. Stud each diamond with a clove. Put the jelly, cinnamon, paprika and red wine vinegar into a saucepan and whisk together over a high heat bringing it to the boil. Let the pan bubble away so that the glaze reduces to a syrup-like consistency.
7. Place a layer of foil over a roasting tray big enough to hold the ham. Place the ham on top of the foil.
8. Pour the glaze over the clove-studded ham and then transfer it to the oven. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the glazed fat is burnished.
9. Allow the meat to rest in a warm place for at least 15 minutes before carving it.

(original link)

Cheese Toastie with a bit of a kick!

Great for a lunchtime snack...

• Use whatever bread you like/have in
• Take two slices
  
• Tear up some salami and ham on one slice
  
• On the other slice spread a little tomato and chilli chutney
• Back to the meat side of the bread.... now add a handful of rocket and as much cheese as you like in whatever variety you like (my cheese of choice this time was Aldi Mountain Cheese - European and slightly smokey)
• Then simply put two slices together
• And pop in your toastie bag, toastie maker, or as I do, my George Forman Grill and cook until the bread looks toasted and the cheese melted - only a couple of minutes this should take
• Slice in half and serve with a nice cold glass of juice... yum yum yum