Vermicelli with Ham and Creamy Saffron Sauce

I'm flying to Sicily tomorrow to visit Mauro's family and I am so exited! I wanted to inform you that I won't post anything on my blog for about a week and a half. But I'm not leaving you without another recipe.

What would fit better now than pasta!? I have a simple recipe for you that is basically a carbonara sauce with the addition of saffron. Trust me, it is extremely good!


This is what I call comfort food... not only is it nourishing, it is also heart-warming. You get happier with every bite you eat. I love the vermicelli pasta with this dish because you can really shovel big bites onto your fork and it looks very nice with the ham streaks. If you don't have vermicelli, you could use thin spaghetti or linguine.

Recipe:
(from Ursula Ferrigno - Pasta Passion)

serves 4

350g vermicelli (or other) pasta (if you are hearty eaters, I would say a little more, maybe then also a bit more ham and cream)
a large pinch of saffron strands
150g cooked ham, cut into strips (I roasted the ham strips in a frying pan before adding them to the sauce)
200ml cream (I used 25% fat, the original calls for double cream)
50g grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
2 egg yolks
sea salt
pepper

Heat up a saucepan of water. Put the saffron strands into a smaller saucepan and add two tablespoons of water. Bring this to a boil. Then, remove from the hot plate and leave it to sit for a bit.

When the water is boiling, add salt and then the pasta. While the pasta cooks, add ham to the pan containing the saffron. Also pour in cream and parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. Stir well. When the cream bubbles, remove the pan from the hot plate, add the egg yolks and beat well. Taste and season again according to your taste.

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Mix well and serve.