Recipes have been a little lacking on the site of late. I’ve spent too much time gallivanting around and eating out to enjoy any time in the kitchen.
Thankfully, Maille set out a Culinary Challenge – to use some of their ingredients in a recipe – and provided me with the perfect opportunity to not only explore their range further (I’ve long been a fan of their Dijon and grain mustards) but to step outside my comfort zone and choose something I might not necessarily work with normally.
So I selected walnut oil. I’m a big fan of walnuts, but haven’t had any occasion to use the oil before and I wanted to steer clear of the obvious salad dressing route. So I went for a pasta dish and my love of simple food made with really good ingredients.
After all, when it’s this good, why mess with it?
Spaghetti with walnut oil, Parma ham and Parmesan
Serves 2
Ingredients:
200g spaghetti
1 clove of garlic, crushed
50ml Maille walnut oil
50g rocket (if you struggle to get this, watercress would be a good substitution)
4 slices of Parma ham
Shavings of Parmesan cheese to top.
1. Put a pan of salted water on to boil for the spaghetti and prepare to the packs instructions.
2. While the spaghetti is cooking, warm the oil on a low heat in a pan, and add the garlic. Continue to warm the oil, and gently cook the garlic until it just begins to turn golden. Remove from the heat.
3. Drain the spaghetti and return to the pan. Add the oil and garlic and stir to coat the pasta.
4. Divide the pasta into bowls and top with the rocket – the rocket will wilt slightly making it easier to eat with the pasta.
5. Tear the ham and top the bowls with this, followed by the Parmesan shavings to taste.
6. Bon appetite!
It’s a simple, but delicious way to enjoy the oil – the Parmesan adds a sweetness that goes really well with the salty ham and nutty oil. But if you fancy something a little deeper, we’ve also made this and topped it with blue cheese (Stilton or Gorgonzola work really well) – an ideal alternative.
And I’m all about an easy supper after a hard day at work.
The oil was supplied free as part of this competition.
