The Anonymous Widower

Lindsey Bareham Does A Delia

Delia Smith over the years has become famous for something called the Delia Effect.

Items to have benefitted from the “Delia Effect” include the Kenwood mini-chopper, Martelli pasta and Aunt Bessie’s mashed potato.

I actually have one of the Kenwood mini-Choppers, as I’ve never been good with knives. I have a scar on one of my fingers, where I sliced my finger open with a craft knive at about the age of ten.

Lindsey’s effect is less dramatic, but it started with this recipe for pulled ham hock and pea pasta with herbs.

This is the ingredients for four people.

350g fusilli, penne or other short pasta
200g frozen petits pois
180g pulled ham hock or thick-sliced ham
150g Greek yoghurt with honey
2 limes
2 tbsp finely sliced chives
1 tbsp shredded marjoram or basil

She says this about the pulled ham hock.

Whenever I see pulled ham hock on sale – it’s sold in an eye-catching red 180g double pack – I pile it into my shopping basket. It’s such a useful standby; perfect for quickie pasta suppers like this one, but ideal, too, for sandwiches and gratins. These chunky pieces of well-flavoured ham get mixed with my other favourite standby; frozen petits pois.

And that caused the Bareham Effect! My local Waitrose is at the Angel in Islington and this is their pulled ham hock. But it was totally sold out and hasn’t been seen since the recipe was printed. But I suppose it is Islington!

I cooked the recipe for the first time on Wednesday and it was so good, I cooked it again last night. As I live alone and generally only cook for one, I have modified the recipe to match my skills and needs.

I started by getting a tumbler of Carluccio’s gluten-free pasta, half a mug of frozen peas and shredding some ham.

Pasta, Peas And Ham

The ham was actually one 180g bubble of Waitrose’s honey roast ham. I just tore it into smaller pieces. I had put a saucepan on to boil.

A Saucepan With A Built-In Strainer

Note the lid with the built-in strainer. I find this very easy-to-use with my gammy left hand.

When it was really boiling hard, I added the pasta, which needs eight minutes to cook. After five minutes, I added the peas. Incidentally, I washed the cup in the boiling water, to make sure no peas were stuck inside.

After the pasta and the peas were cooked, I drained them and then added the ham, half-a-tub of Rachel’s Greek yoghurt with honey, the juice of half a lime, the chopped chives and the herbs and stirred it all together.

Ham And Pea Pasta

One of the amazing things about this dish is the aroma, as you combine everything together. The taste is very good too, as otherwise why would I cook it twice.

Incidentally, the first time, I didn’t have any limes handy, as one doesn’t, so I used some lemon juice.  So I only needed to buy the ham and the yoghurt.

The next time I make it, I probably use some of my normal yoghurt and the honey, that I generally have for breakfast.

It’s definitely, a recipe that fits my staple foods, so even the shopping is minimal.

I suppose though that automatic computer stocking in supermarkets being what it is, Waitrose at the Angel will be piled high with pulled ham hock in the next week!

July 26, 2013 - Posted by AnonW | Food | Lindsey Bareham, Pasta, Recipe, Waitrose