PASTA WITH HAM, PEAS AND CREAM

Pasta entree

This is a really simple and fast pasta dish.

1 lb short cut pasta (penne, rigatoni, fusilli, little shells, elbows....)

1 cup peas, frozen or canned/jarred

1 cup diced ham

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp extravirgin olive oil

1/2 cup milk (optional)

4 tbsp Parmigiano, grated

Salt, pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil; when it boils, add salt and then pasta, stir and cook until al dente (7-10 minutes depending on the shape of pasta).

In the mean time, put a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat and warm olive oil, add ham and sautee for about 1 minute, then add peas and a couple of tbsp of the water you're cooking pasta in. Cook for about 5 minutes and add cream, stir and season with salt and pepper. If it's too thick, use some milk to thin it.

Strain pasta (reserving some water), arrange it in the skillet with your sauce and, over medium heat, toss to coat evenly. If it's still too thick add a few other tbsp of the reserved water.

Serve immediately, sprinkled with grated parmesan.

This recipe serves 4-6 people.

- If you use fresh peas, it may be better to cook them with pasta.

- You can use rosemary rubbed Italian Prosciutto Cotto (cooked ham).

- You can use butter instead of milk or water.

- You can use Prosciutto (Parma), in this case it's better to roughly chop it and, because it dries quickly becoming tough and extremely salty, it's better not to sautee it but to add it at the end.