Creamy Ham & Mushroom Spaghetti
By: Bing
Published: Friday, January 7, 2011 - 9:14am

Ingredients




250 grams ham (of your choice)
120 grams shitake mushrooms (or brown mushrooms)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chicken stock granules
1 cup liquid cream (don’t use milk, it’s not the same)
1/2 cup +2 tablespoons finely grated fresh parmesan cheese
200 grams spaghetti
salt& pepper to taste
chopped parsley to garnish

Preparation

1 I used 250g of leftover Christmas ham for this recipe. You can use any kind of ham. Just ask your butcher to slice them into 1cm thick slices if they tend to slice them thin. 2 Cut the ham into small cubes. 3 Wash and rinse 120g of mushrooms. Feel free to add more if you like. Cut the mushrooms into large chunks. 4 Prepare 200g of spaghetti according to the package’s instructions. It usually takes about 10mins to cook. 5 While the pasta is cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a pan. 6 When the pan is very hot, add the ham. Pan fry the ham till they are golden brown. 7 Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic. 8 Stir fry the garlic for a few seconds till lightly toasted. Then add the shitake mushrooms. 9 Stir fry the ingredients in the pan till the mushrooms have softened. This will take just about a minute. 10 Next, we add some chicken stock granules. I used Maggi chicken stock from Singapore. You can use any kind you like, but if it’s not a salty brand, then add more later. Don’t forget that some types of ham can be very salty. 11 Add 1 teaspoon of chicken stock granules. 12 Add 1 cup of liquid cream. 13 Heat the mixture till it’s bubbling. 14 Add 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese. I like to sprinkle the cheese into the sauce by hand so that the cheese doesn’t clump up. Stir it well together. 15 At this point, TASTE the sauce. If it’s not seasoned enough, add a little more chicken stock, salt and pepper to taste. If it’s too salty, cut the saltiness with a little sugar. 16 The pasta should be cooked now. It’s always good to taste a strand to confirm it’s al dente. And then drain it. But don’t rinse! 17 Pour the hot pasta into a large serving bowl. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. 18 Toss the pasta well so that it doesn’t clump. 19 Pour the hot creamy sauce on to the pasta. Toss well. 20 Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese on top. 21 Sprinkle chopped parsley to garnish. 22 Serve and dig in!

About


If you like creamy pasta dishes, this one is really nice. The sauce is LIGHT, yet creamy. 
I used leftover Christmas ham, but you can use any kind of ham, smoked ham, sausage or even chicken that you like. Just get your butcher (even at Cold Storage Singapore) to cut the ham into thick slabs instead of thin slices.
For a step by step tutorial on making this, go to - http://www.storyofbing.com/?p=7929