As often happens on blog posting day, the day has escaped me. That is one reason why I post recipes — especially if I was not planning on posting one — the time of day comes when I need to be cooking dinner and I still have no idea what to post. I recently made a favorite recipe of mine and when I made it I didn’t think I was going to post about it. I know I say that all the time, but it is true. I was having company so I didn’t take a picture of the ingredients, the process, nor the meal. After having eaten it, I fell in love with it all over again. I decided while eating it for a second meal, when it was left over, to post about it. So I did take a picture at that time, but it is with leftover pasta and some of the noodles didn’t fare so well because I left it in the pan for a long time on the night I cooked it. Well, I did mention I had company and I didn’t rush back in the kitchen after eating to tidy up. Anyway, this is a great recipe for many reasons.
Since I teach Nia and I don’t have a corporate job I don’t experience all of the potlucks throughout the year and especially that happen over the holiday season, but this recipe is GREAT for potlucks. It is a meal that is scrumptious hot off the stove, but it is still really yummy if it is room temperature or even cold. You don’t have to worry with this dish that it is not piping hot. So it makes great leftovers. AND it is super, super, super simple.
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Walnuts and Ham Pasta
2-3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 – 1 cup chopped walnuts, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped/minced
1 package of linguine
1/2 lb cooked ham, chopped into little chunks (ABOUT pea size or bean size)
1/4 – 1/2 c Parmesan cheese
3-4 tbsp parsley
Heat the olive oil a little bit. Add the chopped walnuts to the oil. Cook the pasta according to the directions/your liking. After cooking the walnuts for a few minutes add 1/2 of the garlic. Cook two minutes. Add the ham chunks. Since the ham is already cooked you are basically just warming it up and cooking it a little bit more. When the ham is almost cooked to your liking add the rest of the garlic.
NOTE: Since the olive oil is serving as the “sauce” you may need to add more as you are cooking. It depends on how oily you want your pasta. This is one of those “recipes” — where how much you use of the ingredients is really up to your tastes.
After you have drained the cooked pasta, mix the pasta and walnut-ham-garlic mixture together. Top with the cheese and parsley.
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This recipe makes a HUGE amount of pasta. Keep that in mind and adjust accordingly. You might decide you want more walnuts or less ham. You know how the recipes are that I post . . . they are a guide . . . an idea . . . something to get you started. Make it once, then go from there . . . or start off with making it your own.
Let me know how yummy you think this is. AND let me know what you do to it!
Terre Pruitt's Blog 