Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 06:10 
this angela hartnett recipe for linguine with peas and parma ham is an old favourite. the variation this week was to use smoked garlic in the recipe and smoked salt for seasoning. it added a subtle additional layer of flavour to an already delicious and fantastically easy dish.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 07:00 
my first courgette has been eaten! i’ve read lots of things about home-grown vegetables tasting so much nicer than bought ones and it was wonderful to be able to put this theory to the test at last.
i decided to take inspiration from a skye gyngell recipe and tossed courgette ribbons and parmesan shavings with some lemon juice and olive oil. i then layered the mixture with some parma ham (courgette, ham, courgette, ham) and topped it off with some mustard leaves which i also grew.
it tasted amazingly good – the courgette itself had a more distinct and “greener” flavour than shop-bought courgettes. this might be due to it being just-picked, slightly smaller than the ones you buy and, obviously, because of the tlc david and i have been giving to our garden as we try and grow some vegetables! the recipe also helped – one courgette made two ample starters and the flavours worked brilliantly together. skye suggests adding crème fraiche as well.
i have a second courgette on its way and can’t wait to try something else with that!
update: i used this same recipe for the second courgette, but added slices of avocado in the middle. much more filling but a good alternative.
courgettes, parma ham in garden, meat, salad Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 07:41 
a few weeks ago we had an angela hartnett pasta dish that was wonderful – linguine with peas and parma ham.
the mix of crunchy green vegetables and soft sweet parma ham is a winning combination with pasta and is something i’ve revisited regularly. this time, it’s the turn of asparagus to shine, oomphed up with a little lemon zest for extra zinginess.
as with the original dish, this can be made vegetarian by swapping the parma ham with soft goats cheese.
