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.