This is a good family meal, with lots of veg and a rich creamy sauce – it’s really filling. Quick and easy too and you can double to serve many people or a crowd of kids, when crowds of kids exist again.
Wine Suggestion: This goes really well with a white that can cope with a rich, creamy dish.Keeping the Italian theme we’d suggest a good Verdicchio which tend to strike a nice balance between a fuller body, polyphenols (those white wine tannins that give texture and grip) and a nutty, saline freshness. The textures and the body make it work with the marscapone, ham and tomatoes especially well.
Farfalle with peas, mushrooms & ham – serves 4
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- a small onion, finely sliced
- 125g diced cooked ham
- 50g frozen peas
- 100g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 1 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- 75g mascarpone cheese
- 250g farfalle pasta
- a small handful of chopped basil
- grated Parmesan, to serve
Bring a very big pot of water to the boil and add lots of fine salt.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion for a few minutes over a medium heat. Add the ham, peas and mushrooms and keep cooking for about 5 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes, stir well and simmer gently for about 8 minutes, uncovered. Add the mascarpone, season well, then remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the boiling water until al dente, then drain and tip back into the pot. Pour the sauce over the pasta, then add the basil and stir together for about 30 seconds. Serve in warm bowls with Parmesan over the top.
(Original recipe from Pronto! by Gino D’Acampo, Kyle Books, 2014.)
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