Give Peas a Chance

Again, sucker for wordplay.

Tonight we venture once again into the world of "Everyday Contorni" with our first recipe in the "Quick and Simple" section which happens to be Peas and Prosciutto.

I don't hate peas, but they're certainly not my first choice in vegetables. I also don't hate prosciutto, it's just something I like to eat in small doses (it's probably healthier to keep it that way as well). Needless to say, the excitement level for this one was not on the higher end of the spectrum.

I started by sauteing some garlic and a shallot for about a minute. This was my first time working with shallots and they're a really interesting food. They're pretty much mini onions with a more mild taste. I really liked them, and I think I may need to try them roasted or caramelized in the future. I then added some defrosted frozen peas and sauteed those for about five minutes.

The recipe says to stir in the prosciutto along with some parsley, salt, and pepper once the rest of the dish has been cooked and removed from the heat, but I prefer my prosciutto a bit crispier. It take away the ham-like quality of it. I do despise ham. I added the prosciutto in for the last two minutes of so of cooking.

As suggested, I removed all of this from the heat after it was thoroughly cooked, and stirred in the seasoning. And that was it! The dish truly was quick and simple. Kudos, Giada, for sticking to your word (not that I ever doubted you).

As for the dish itself, the peas were a little overcooked and kind of dry on the inside. Luckily the seasoning and the prosciutto made up for it. I was glad I had crisped up the prosciutto because it became the star of the dish and I feel it wasn't quite as salty as it normally would be.

This would generally be served as a side dish, but I find it difficult to cook 1/6 of the recipe just for myself to taste, so I just made a meal out of it. It would be a nice compliment to a meal though. Maybe if I could work on the cooking of my peas. But then again, I don't usually opt for them, so why should I?

That's all I have for today. I will be cooking again this Wednesday when I try out another dessert. Another CHOCOLATE dessert at that :) See you then!