Monday, April 19, 2010

Leaf - The Cookbook Challenge - Week 23

With a theme this week of leaf, for something different, instead of making a nice healthy salad or dish using lovely spinach or the like I thought I would make a creamy pasta dish that included lettuce, it sounded quite odd so I thought this was the perfect time to see how it tasted.  The recipe comes from Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen garden Companion, a book that I have used a bit in this challenge & a lot any other day of the week too, I love it & have so many recipes bookmarked to try, I hope I can get to them all soon. 

The lettuce has quite a distinct flavour that is obviously very lettucey (making up words here), wilted down in the pasta I actually found it quite odd though I did really enjoy it too.  The recipe itself I had picked out before last weeks Doctors appointment in which I was given 2 months to get my cholesterol down, so butter, prosciutto, cream, this may be the last I see of you for a while in such large quantities though I refuse to give all the good things in life up entirely & am definitely not giving up baking!  Will be very interesting to see how I go retesting in 2 months.  As such, I really enjoyed this bit of luxury, even if in such a simple dish.  W ho doesnt love a creamy pasta sauce full of beautiful prosciutto & balanced out by lovely fresh peas, worth a look even if only once in a while.  Note the recipe in the book also comes with fresh pasta instructions which I will leave out as I was in a hurry & went with a packet.

Lets see how healthy I can make chocolate next week, I think if I use good quality dark chocolate I can sneak in something really yummy!

Pasta with Peas, Lettuce & Prosciutto - Stephanie Alexander - Kitchen Garden Companion

Serves 4

40g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 slices prosciutto, cut widthways into 1cm wide strips
12 cos lettuce leaves, hard stalks cut away, leaves cut widthways into 3cm strips
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
salt
500gpeas in pod (to yield 1 cup shelled peas)
1 cup pouring cream
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Dried fettucine, pappardelle, etc to serve 4
Grated parmesan, to serve.

Bring a large pan of salted water to boil.  Once boiling, cook pasta according to packet instructions.

Meantime, heat butter & Olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan or saute pan over low heat & gently saute prosciutto until the fat starts to run.  Add lettuce & garlic, then cover pan and cook gently over low heat for 5 minutes or until lettuce is limp.

Add peas & cream to prosciutto/lettuce mix, cover & cook for 5 minutes until peas are tender.  Uncover pan & increase heat to medium, then cook for 2-3 minutes or until cream starts to thicken & deepen in colour.  Toss in drained pasta & parsley, season with salt & pepper to taste, toss well & serve with grated cheese.

7 comments:

Saskia said...

That actually sounds very good and springy. One to try!

Emma said...

This looks really yummy Vicious Ange, thanks for sharing!!

Hannah said...

Meh, doctors don't really know what they're talking about. Stress kills more than anything else, and cream, butter and chocolate make the world a happy place, ergo eating these things will keep us all healthy as horses.

Plus, this has peas and lettuce! That's practically a Kate Moss diet! :P

Ange said...

Thanks, & Hannah I will follow your advice & just add peas & lettuce to anything with 'banned substances' from now on & know I am living the life of Kate Moss, surely my Dr will approve :)

Food Floozy said...

Excellent pasta - seasonal and sexy! I've committed to cooking a baked pear dish from Spicy Icecream (its got the cheese factor) but this is defiantly on my "to eat list". YUMMO! Who doesn't love Stephanie! :)

Thanks for sharing!

Megan said...

That looks absolutely delicious! I love pasta! I love proscioutto! And I love peas!
For your cholesterol, eat more fruits and drink fruit smoothies! And I heard garlic is good too.

Unknown said...

Yum..the photo looks so tasty I'm ready to eat a bowl of it myself. I love the idea of the lettuce in the dish instead of the usual spinach.