They might not sound like the perfect pair but the salty and pungent Chinese ham is great with pasta. And you don’t need so much ham to make a flavorful pasta dish. With Chinese ham, a little goes a long, long way. Not that Chinese ham is essential. Any smoky, salty ham will do just as well.
This spaghetti dish, last Saturday’s dinner, has very few ingredients all of which are pretty much staples in any kitchen where real home cooking gets done most days of the week. Apart from the Chinese ham and the pasta, there’s onion, bell peppers, milk, butter, and cheese. With such simple ingredients, if you are very much able to chop, pour and stir, why order pizza or run to the nearest fast food outlet for the family’s dinner?
Cut the bell peppers in half, scrape out the seeds, and cut off the tops and the veins. Chop coarsely. Chop the ham. Cut the cheese into very small cubes or grate coarsely. Melt the butter in a pan. When hot, add the ham and cook for about two minutes. Add the chopped onion and bell peppers and continue cooking, stirring often, until the vegetables start to turn soft. Add the cooked spaghetti to the pan. Pour in the milk. Add the cheese. Sprinkle with about a teaspoonful of salt. Cook, stirring, until the spaghetti is heated through and the cheese has melted and thickened the sauce. Grind some pepper over the pasta, toss a few times, and serve at once.
Baked Mac and Cheese
Considered by many as America’s most beloved comfort food, mac, and cheese was tonight’s emergency and very rushed dinner. We ran out of rice, we ran out of green leafy vegetables, it’s been raining (with gusty winds) for the past four days and grocery shopping wasn’t the most attractive activity for the day. In short, there weren’t too many choices for dinner. It was either a no-meat, no-veggies tofu dish or pasta. Mac and cheese seemed to be the simplest.
If you search the web for “mac and cheese”, you will find recipes for so many versions you’ll end up not knowing which one to make. There are versions with milk, cream, ham, or bacon. There are versions with spinach and peas. The simplest is a mixture of butter, cooked pasta, and shredded cheese. I’m throwing in my version with the rest.
Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
Pour in the milk in a thin stream, stirring non-stop to create a smooth sauce. Add the grated cheese. Cook until the cheese melts. Off the heat, season with enough salt to suit your taste. Pour the cooked macaroni into a baking dish. Pour in the cheese sauce. Stir to blend. Smoothen the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Lay the slices of mild cheddar cheese on top.