15 minute pasta

Ingredients

• 350g/12oz penne pasta
• 2 x 80g/3oz packs Parma ham, snipped into small pieces
• 250g/9oz small brown chestnut mushrooms, halved or quartered
• 200g/7oz full-fat crème fraîche
• 100g/3½oz Parmesan, grated
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• salt and pepper, to taste

To serve (optional)

• green salad
• crunchy bread

Method

1. Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Drain and set aside

2. Heat a frying pan until hot. Add the pieces of Parma ham and fry until crisp, remove half of the ham onto a plate and set aside. Add the mushrooms to the pan and fry for two minutes. Add the crème fraîche and bring up to the boil. Add the pasta, Parmesan and parsley and toss together over the heat. Season well with salt and pepper.

3. Serve with a green salad and crunchy bread.

Tips

If you want to use reduced fat crème fraîche, just stir it through at the end of cooking otherwise it will split. For special occasions, add a pack of asparagus tips to the pasta four minutes before the end of cooking time, then drain with the pasta.