Simple Eats – Pasta with Ham and Red Pesto

Too lazy to cook something too elaborated and too lazy to go out to buy food. Basically a lazy lunch for a lazy day.

Ingredients

a handful of spaghetti

2-3 pieces of ham or bacon

Marks & Spencer Red Pesto Sauce

2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

coriander, finely chopped

parmesan cheese

Instructions

In a wok,  arrange the ham around so that the pieces are well spread out.

Pan-fry the ham or bacon in its own fat at low heat until slightly crisp and brown. If leaner ham was used, a tablespoon of vegetable oil may be added.

Remove from wok into a plate and using a pair of scissors, snip the ham into bits.

Add water to the wok and bring to boil. Add spaghetti and cook until al dente.

Drain the water, add pesto sauce and olive oil to pasta and give everything a good toss.

Dish pasta onto plate using a pair of tongs, sprinkle with ham/bacon bits, parmesan cheese and finely chopped coriander.

Serve immediately.

To be perfectly honest, I used fatty bits of ham and bacon which had already gone passed their prime, too “exotic-tasting to be used in sandwiches or eaten on their own. I gave them a quick rinse, pat dry with kitchen towel and sauteed them over their own fat. No salt is added as the bacon is quite salty on its own. Marks and Spencer’s Red Pesto sauce is not bad for a toss-in, but too “tomatoey” while at the same time not as “cheesy” as I’d hoped it would be. But I guess one cannot be too picky when one is lazy.

I used chinese coriander 芫荽 in place of parsley or coriander and the effects are surprisingly good! Would definitely use it again… : )