using up: parma ham, leeks

I found an unopened packet of parma ham slices in the fridge left from the festering season.  It was a couple of weeks past its sell by date, but hey – it’s vacuum packed, it’s preserved …

This is a take on a Jamie Oliver recipe – I missed out the wine, and some of the butter.  Fed two hungry people.

I sliced two beefy leeks in half lengthways, then cut them into 1cm chunks, on a diagonal.  Put them in a sieve and gave them a good wash. (I trimmed the tops off, sliced them thinly and bunged them in the soup pot).

Chopped three cloves of garlic, and put those and the leeks in a deep frying pan (that has a lid) with some olive oil and butter. Added some thyme leaves.  Stirred them around a bit to coat them in oil, then seasoned with black pepper, and laid strips of parma ham across the top.  The book said cook for 25-30 minutes, which I didn’t believe but dear JO was right.

While that was going on, I put a thick slice of a white bloomer loaf in the Magimix, with a few dried porcini (he said to use a cupful, which I thought was horrific extravagance!).  Whizzed that up with another clove of garlic and some more thyme.

Then fried the resulting crumbs in some olive oil in my ridiculously wonderful £8 non-stick pan from Asda until they were crunchy, and put them to drain on some kitchen paper.

Took the parma ham out and sliced it up, then returned it to the pan with a good dollop of grated parmesan (we mixed a little bit in with the cooked crumbs too).  Added some cooked tagliatelle.

Scoffed from bowls, with the crumbs and remaining cheese scattered over the top.  Very nice indeed.