This asparagus salad can be made with either white, green, or a combination of white and green asparagus. I made a Dutch-Italian version using a vinaigrette and lightly toasted pine nuts, combined with hard-boiled egg and boiled ham. The flavor … Continue reading Asparagus Salad (Insalata di Asparagi)
Italian cooking is about the art of “less is more”. When I thought of this pasta dish, I thought the flavors of roasted cauliflower, boiled ham, and cumin would work well together. And they did! And I resisted the urge … Continue reading Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Ham, and Cumin
Kees is working on the boat and I contribute by luring friends to help out by providing dinner. After a day of hard work, a baked pasta dish seemed like a good idea. This was also very practical, as I … Continue reading Baked Pasta with Ham and Peas (Pasta al Forno con Cotto e Piselli)
Despite my forays into fusion, my favorite cuisine remains Italian home cooking. I’ve started following another blog in Italian, Grembiule da Cucina, hosted by Simona, an experience Italian home cook. She posted her family’s meatball recipe, which is also used for … Continue reading Green Ravioli with Ham
This dish doesn’t look all that great, but it sure was tasty! I got the idea for polenta (or grits) with corn from Mimi. When I saw her post, I responded that I had never seen local fresh corn on … Continue reading Double Corn Polenta with Ham and Pickled Chipotles
This simple but tasty pasta dish is great for a weekday meal, especially since all the ingredients can be purchased quite a long time in advance. Thanks to CampariGirl to remind me to make this again. The only important thing to remember here is to use good ham, preferably the kind that only has pork and salt as its ingredients. A good ham really makes this shine. Ingredients For 2 servings 150-200 grams (.33 – .44 lb) penne pasta 100-150 grams (5 oz) ham, in cubes 150 grams (1 cup) frozen peas 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 Tbsp butter 1 … Continue reading Pasta with Ham, Peas, and Cream (Penne con Prosciutto Cotto, Piselli e Panna)
Cordon Bleu was one of my favorite dishes as a kid. I hadn’t eaten it for years, but when I was thinking about what to do with the organic chicken breast I had left from the whole chicken I had used to make brodo for tortellini, I decided it would be nice to make cordon bleu again. It can’t be a surprise that cordon bleu is really good if made from scratch with good chicken, good ham, and good cheese. It is quite different from something store-bought where the ham, cheese, and chicken are probably all of the ‘processed’ variety. Cordon … Continue reading Chicken Cordon Bleu
