Celebrating being a Saveur finalist - Pasta With Green Peas, Rucola and Crispy Parma Ham

You cannot imagine how surprised I was yesterday when I received an email from Saveur telling me that Lucullian Delights is one of the finalists in the Best Regional Cuisine category. And happy too of course but the first impact was that someone was pulling my leg because I never expected Lucullian to be a finalist there and in such fantastic company, the food blogs in the category are all really interesting but I obviously hope you will vote for me even though just being a finalist is a win in my eyes. You have to register to vote but even though it seems complicated because you can only come from the US (Hey Saveur, we are loads of people reading you out here in the big, wide world!), you can always pretend like lots of us have done! And to vote and in the other categories while you're at it, so many nice blogs to discover.

Anyway, this gave me the kick I needed to actually start preparing something to blog about and not just feed you visual food but also some real food as well. Fresh green peas are abounding here right now so I I wanted to make something fresh but yet filling, something with pasta because I haven't posted a pasta dish here for ages. So this is what I am celebrating with for lunch, a combination of fresh peas (but you can use frozen if you want), rucola and crispy Parma ham, easy peasy!

PASTA WITH GREEN PEAS, RUCOLA AND CRISPY PARMA HAM
4 servings

400 g/ 14 oz pasta, I used penne
250 g/ 8,8 oz shelled green peas
2 handfuls of rucola. Or baby spinach if you prefer
8 thin slices of Parma ham (prosciutto crudo)
some white wine, optional
fresh marjoram
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

 While the pasta boils, cook the peas and marjoram in some olive oil in a skillet or pan, add a splash of white wine or water if you prefer and let it cook until peas are soft but still al dente. Don't forget to salt and if the peas are not sweet enough, a pinch of sugar as well.

 Now take a non-stick pan and fry the slices of Parma ham gently until crispy, when ready, leave to drip off any excess fat on kitchen paper.

 Just before you add the freshly cooked pasta, throw in the rucola and stir until it starts to wilt, then it is time to add the pasta, mix well and crumble the crispy Parma ham over before serving it.

It's that time of the year - Tree Peonies and Happy Holidays!

Going back to my roots - Saffron Yogurt With Spicy Honey, Candied Ginger and Pine Nuts

I am sometimes amazed that I have readers who has been following Lucullian almost since the start. Merisi from Merisi's Vienna For Beginners is one of them. She is a really nice human being, one of the kind who leaves real comments, not the hastier type, but comments that really come from her heart, that she actually has thought about or something that was triggered by something I wrote in the post. I happen to know that this is one of her favourite recipes here on Lucullian and when I saw all the lilac Wisteria we have now in our garden, I thought of both her and this spicy yogurt dessert/snack and decided to re-post it in her honour because she deserves it (a great person and a great photographer too) and because it is pretty nice dessert as well. I first posted it almost exactly four years ago, on the 18th of April in 2007 and to be honest, I think I like the photos then better than the ones I made today, simpler yes but the sunlight and the shade is nice! I have made a few changes to the original recipe.

I know I have been absent a lot lately but things are a bit crazy here right now, work opportunities coming and going, some won, some lost but I always learn something new and useful so I don't complain. I do have some exciting (for me at least) news but I prefer to wait and tell you when it is finalized. I think I am a bit superstitious. I really will try to get back to blogging more because I have lots of ideas but maybe not enough time to realize them on!

SAFFRON YOGURT WITH SPICY HONEY, CANDIED GINGER AND PINE NUTS

Yogurt, I used my favourite one which has 4.2% fat in it
Saffron powder, add as much or little as you like, you don't need much in any case
Mild, runny honey
Cinnamon power
Cardamom powder
Candied ginger, finely chopped
Pine nuts or some other type of nut that you like, finely chopped

 Mix the yogurt with the saffron, stir until it's all yellow. Add cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and pine nuts to the honey. Put the yogurt in small bowls and top with the spicy honey.

 Serve. It is just so simple to make.

'Reading' tips

I have wanted to share these two links with you for some time now, the first one is a podcast where Helen Simpson reads Angela Carter's 'The Kitchen Child', a short story that makes me feel so good when I hear it. Or read it but I love listening to books being read.

The second is also a pod cast from the same series (do listen to them all over at The Guardian), Rose Tremain reads Yiyun Li's short story 'Extra', also well worth to listen to.

And then, if you have some time left over, you can read this interview with me over at Protography that was 'published' earlier this week.

Take a walk with me

Hanging out of my bedroom window, I caught a bit of the slanting morning sun, gleaming through the oak in our garden. Time to take the dog out. And the camera.


Walking on the road down towards civilization, we descended towards the morning fog floating in the valleys.


The grass was full of gleaming leaves like these diamond studded wild tulip leaves.


We still have remnants of winter scenes around.


This is where you can give gas while you drive, hoping that no cats will be jumping out of the grass.


I love the colours in this photo, the white, green and brown are beautiful together.


If you look well and have xray sight you can see our house, it's the first of our little 'village'!