This Spaghetti with Green Beans and Smoked Ham couldn’t be much simpler. Just before Christmas I’d wanted to use up the last slice of Bavarian smoked ham and leftover blanched green beans in the fridge. Plus, I needed something quick and easy to make for a late sups. I need more light and easy-peasy recipes like this, instead of always going for my tuna and broccoli, which takes longer to cook as I always caramelise the onions as a base. Here, as the green beans are blanched already (as they store far better like that) I just trim them and chuck them in a pan with a little oil and single/light cream at the same time as I put on lots of lightly salted cold water with a clove of garlic for the spaghetti. There isn’t much more to it than that.
Apart from shredding the ham and mashing the garlic. Yesterday I cooked this without consulting notes I’d made and didn’t add cayenne, olives and dried oregano, all of which I’m putting as optional below. I preferred the even simpler version. If you know how amazing carbonara is, cooked properly, then think along those lines. Not that this simple little dish claims to be nearly as good as. Still, it’s tasty and relatively healthy as 10 green beans is one of your five a day.
To blanch green beans (suitable for freezing): Put a large saucepan with a lid on electric heat No 4 (out of 6) and add plenty of lightly salted cold water. Bring to a boil, carefully add the untrimmed green beans, replace the lid, bring back to a rolling broil, reduce heat to No 2 and set timer for one minute. Take off heat and drain through a metal colander. Immediately start to run cold water into the saucepan and add the beans. Run water until beans are absolutely cold. Mine store nicely for 3 days in the fridge without forming nasty brown spots which will turn into mould.
Spaghetti with Green Beans and Smoked Ham, with a garlicy cream sauce and Grana Padano cheese
INGREDIENTS:
- oil
- single/light cream, about enough to cover the base of pan (but not an extra large pan) or 2 tablespoons
- 10 x blanched green beans, stems trimmed and discarded, cut into pieces
- 1 x dried bay leaf, split in half
- plenty of lightly salted cold water, for the pasta
- 1 x medium garlic clove, root end cut off and discarded, peeled and clove sliced in half
- up to 70g (2.46 oz) x dried spaghetti, more to personal taste
- 2 – 3 x tablespoons x cooking liquor from the nearly cooked pasta
- 1 x slice smoked ham, shredded
- a pinch of cayenne pepper – optional
- green olives, sliced – optional
- dried oregano – optional
- lots of freshly grated Grana Padano cheese or Parmesan
- freshly snipped or finely chopped parsley (rinsed before chopping) – optional
Measurements within brackets above are approximate only.
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Put a large heavy-based pan on electric heat No 2 (out of 6) with a lid. When pan is hot add a drizzle of olive oil and the green beans and bay leaf.
- Put a saucepan on heat No 4 with plenty of lightly salted cold water and the split in half garlic clove. Bring to a boil and carefully add the spaghetti. Stir through occasionally to break up any strands that stick. Reduce heat to No 2 and simmer until al dente (refer to instructions on pack)
- In the meantime add a couple of glugs of single/light cream to the green beans and stir through occasionally. Add the shredded ham as well as this stage.
- When pasta is nearly ready add a couple of dessertspoons of its cooking liquor to the beans and stir through. Grab the garlic clove and mash, adding that to the beans as well.
- If sauce is too wet up the heat for the beans and reduce until it clings to the pasta. If too dry simply add a little more cream. There shouldn’t be excess sauce in the bowl when served.
- Serve with lots of freshly grated Grana Padano or a favourite Parmesan and seasoning.
All photographs within (Todas las fotografías dentro de) Feed the Piglet:
All rights reserved (© Todos los derechos reservados) – Copyright © Johnny H Hepburn
So glad I heard about your blog! Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe and beautiful photo!
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Thank you so much!
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Good. I was wondering how to use up all the extra green beans lying in my freezer since September. Great picture, as always!
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Thanks for that. If you try it I hope it works out. Using a fresh bay leaf (not this years growth) would probably be better.
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Nice. Always looking for quick and easy pasta dishes!
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Same here!
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Anything that adorns pasta…is delish… 🙂
Carmen
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Totally agree! Especially when it’s this easy to cook.
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Nice tip about blanching the beans. As for the main event – hard to beat!
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Yes, blanching really works for me. Especially as they’re quite expensive at this time of year. Loathed throwing beans out when I bought them last month. How dangerous the mould might be is anybody’s guess. Still, would rather not risk it!
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Pasta meals are quick to prepare and yours sounds good with the green beans and ham.
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Regardless of how simple I do like the flavour combination. And it’s a plus that the beans don’t go soggy if the pasta isn’t ready. Will definitely make this again, but only the simpler version.
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Wonderful post and as always – your photographs are amazing. I’ll be trying this one!
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What a lovely comment. Thank you so much. Hope the recipe works out for you!
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Love spaghetti! This looks very promising and I’ll do it next week.
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It’s very simple, on purpose I suppose, as I want several easy recipes to go to. Hope the recipe works out for you, if and when you try it.
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I love simple dishes…. smoked ham and green beans sounds delicious with spaghetti. Lovely photo, by the way. I see you have a lot of lights today.
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It might be simple but I happened to be thrilled with it. Lot’s of Grana Padano, please!
Yes, was a lot brighter when I shot that.
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Your food looks so good every time!! Spaghetti is one of my favorites and this is incredible. What a great idea with leftovers!!
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It’s perhaps not the greatest idea, nor recipe. Yet, sometimes I love rummaging in my cupboards and fridge! A handful of prawns or shrimp would definitely work with this, too.
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