Pasta Al Fresco
By: Melissa Peterman
Published: Friday, December 10, 2010 - 1:02am

Ingredients




350 grams dried pasta of choice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon  olive oil
175 grams black forest ham cut very thin and snipped into pieces (or any cured or airdried 300 mls double cream
100 grams parmesan coarsely grated or shaved
1 handful fresh parsley chopped

Preparation

1 Heat a large serving dish (a good idea especially if you want to serve the pasta out of doors). 2 Add the pasta to a large pan of boiling salted water. 3 Bring to the boil on the boiling plate then cover and cook on the simmering plate for about 12 minutes until al dente. 4 While the pasta is cooking measure the oil into a deep nonstick frying pan and cook the ham quickly for 2 to 3 minutes on the boiling plate until just beginning to crisp. 5 Lift out the crisp ham and keep warm. 6 When the pasta is cooked drain well and put to one side. 7 Bring the cream to the boil in the empty pan season well then return the pasta to the pan. 8 Add the parmesan, half the ham and most of the parsley. 9 Check seasoning and toss thoroughly. 10 Turn into the hot serving dish and scatter with the remaining parsley and reserved ham. 11 Serve at once with a green salad.

About


This is wonderful to eat out of doors for a summer lunch. Go carefully with the salt as parmesan and dry cured ham may both be fairly salty already.