June 2007 - Spaghetti with prosciutto, peas and spring onion

The bright red cover of issue 61 really catches your eye and so does Valli Little's Spicy Beef, Olive & Caramelised Onion Pie. When I first pulled this issue out of the book case to get reacquainted with it I found myself with a large amount of marked recipes. I marked a few more while reading through it too.

This was another issue that was pretty light on the vegetarian recipes and the only one that interested me was Indian Cauliflower & Chickpea curry. It did sound good, but I just haven't felt like curry recently. So I decided that I would jut have to break with my vegetarian month for this issue. I have to admit that I am rather disappointed with the number of vegetarian recipes in the last few issues.

I did consider Jane Lawson's Passionfruit Sponge cake. This was one of the recipes that I have had marked since I first bought the magazine. I love sponge cakes, and they are so easy to make. The added bonus of this one is the beautiful passionfruit curd and passionfruit icing. The problem though is that it is not the right time of year for passionfruit. That is more of a summer fruit and at the moment they are a bit pricey. I know that you can purchase canned passionfruit but I am not keen on it. If I am going to make a passionfruit curd to go on a sponge cake it must be made with fresh passionfruit so I will keep this one until they are back in season.

Ingrid Rihani's Lamb Tagine with prunes, almonds and caramelised onions, a beautiful slow-cooked meal, that I am sure would be rich and full of flavour and delightfully tender. However, I was trying to get through some recipes quickly and it just didn't fall on the right day to make a long slow dish. I had the same issue with Ben O'Donoghue's Classic Coq au Vin. A glorious recipe full of every thing one would expect from coq au vin.

I ended up going with a recipe from Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers of River Cafe, Spaghetti with prosciutto, peas and spring onion. It sounds and looks like a fabulous recipe and I really want to like it because it was really easy to make. However I found it to be really greasy and I didn't enjoy it much which was really disappoint as I love the components. I think that if it had been a creamy sauce or perhaps a bit of lemon juice to cut through all the oil. I am not sure. It was quick and easy to make. It took a little bit less cooking time for me as I used frozen rather than fresh peas. Over all, I don't think that I would make this one again.

Spaghetti with prosciutto, peas and spring onion

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 100 g unsalted butter
• 200 g spring onions with bulb, outside skin peeled away, whit part chopped
• 400 g podded peas
  
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
  
• Extra virgin olive oil
  
• 150 g prosciutto slices, torn
  
• 350 g spaghetti
• 50 g freshly grated parmesan
  

Method

• Melt butter over medium to high heat and cook onion in it for 2 - 3 minutes.
  
• Add the peas & 1/4 cup hot water and simmer until water evaporates.
  
• Add garlic, parsley and 1/4 olive oil.
  
• Cover and cook over a low heat for 15 minute or until peas are tender, then add prosciutto. If more liquid is needed, add olive oil, not water.
  
• Cook for a further minute or until heated through.
  
• Meanwhile cook spaghetti until al dente.
  
• Drain, add to pea mixture and serve topped with parmesan.