knitting, friendship and leftover ham

Knitting, friendship, leftover ham? Seemingly random connections? Not at all. Especially when so much of our lives revolves around the meaningful things that bring us together- friendship, discovery and good food. In this case, at our bi-monthly get together of the Knitwits (we’re ladies who share needles), I took the opportunity to make a pasta dish using Al Dente Egg Fettuccine with my leftover Easter ham. We spent the rest of the evening knitting and enjoying Peanut’s beautiful home. I love the greeting cards that she does and asked her to design a line of Food Inspired Greeting Cards which will eventually be available on Al Dente’s website. She is wonderfully creative so I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.

(By my next post, I hopefully will have figured out how to attach captions to photos, so you’ll know who is who and what is what. In the meantime, this is Peanut and examples of her cards. Serving the pasta, is Lisa Marra, who has many claims to fame, including being Al Dente’s very first employee.  She now uses her talents as an interior designer. Another extremely creative woman.

Al Dente Pasta with Ham and Peas

1 bag Al Dente® Pasta

2 tbsp. butter

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 cups diced ham

1 cup heavy cream or half and half

16 oz. bag of frozen peas

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

toasted almonds or pinenuts for garnish.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a skillet, melt butter over low heat. Saute onion, stirring until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the ham and cream. In the meantime, add pasta and peas to boiling, salted water. Test pasta after 3 minutes. When “tender, but firm”, drain and toss pasta and peas with cream mixture and Parmesan Cheese. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with toasted nuts, if desired.

serves 6