Hipstamatic Pasta

Sadly we're all at home at my parents house as my daddy died last week. No one has felt much like cooking or eating (slight exaggeration... the husbands have felt like eating) but I decided that my Parma ham, pea and marjoram pasta would be something easy to eat and soothing (a word my mother has told me off for over using!). I was too blah to be bothered getting my camera so my brother-in-law took a photo using the hipstamatic setting on my sisters i-phone. It came out incredibly badly but it does mean that this is now known as Hipstamatic Pasta.

HIPSTAMATIC PASTA
Serves 5

600g fettuccine pasta
8 slices parma ham
5 sprigs marjoram
4 cloves garlic
olive oil
butter
salt and pepper

I use a normal saucepan for the pasta and then an oval le creuset for warming up the other ingredients and then tossing it all about.

1. Put the pasta water on to boil, salt the water well and add the pasta.

2. Put the olive oil on to warm up on a medium heat, I use enough oil to cover the bottom on the oval le creuset. Crush the garlic and add to the warming oil.

3. Roll up each slice of ham length ways so it's cigar shaped and then cut with a sharp knife into about 5 pieces.

4. When the garlic is cooking in the oil but not fizzling away too much add the parma ham to the oil. Keep an eye on the parma ham you don't want it crispy or depressingly over cooked, just a bit warmed through really. When it looks done, take the whole thing off the heat.

5. Strip the leaves from the marjoram and chop finely. Grate some Parmesan - how much you use really depends on how much you want. I have some on the table also for people to sprinkle on when they want it.

6. When the pasta is cooked drain it and add it to the oil, garlic and parma ham with a knob of butter and a good lot of salt and pepper. Toss and add the marjoram and Parmesan keeping back a bit of the herbs to sprinkle on top.

7. Sprinkle the rest of the herbs on top and serve.