Emma Alter
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I've been in Europe for a vacation, so I have happily given over the task of shopping, cooking, and dish washing. I did miss my farmers' market, though. My husband and I arrived in Paris mid-morning on Saturday and once we had dumped our luggage at the hotel we started to explore. We hit upon the tail end of an urban market and it was wonderful to see the array of fruits and vegetables available. There was a table there with gorgeous strawberries and cherries, and I immediately wanted to sit in the shade and eat a bag of French cherries. My husband scoffed, so no cherries.
My husband, famously, has the attention span of a gnat. When he would balk at waiting in a line-up for something or complain about waiting a half an hour for a museum to open, I would think, aha, I caved on the cherries, but not again, and I'd dig in my heels and we'd wait. All week long we wandered the streets and saw the sights and we sat outside at traditional bistros and ate like Parisians. But I couldn't get the thought of the lost cherries out of my head.
Our last day in Paris arrived and my husband was heading to London to visit his sister and I was going to Dublin to visit a dear friend. He had to leave first, so I walked him to the Metro station and then wandered over to the area where the farmers' market had been the first day. Turns out, there is a permanent indoor market that we had somehow missed in our repeated visits to the area. It was early in the morning and all the shops were closed, but the market was wide open and I happily gazed at the local cheeses and French delicacies. And then joy—cherries! The vendor was amused at how excited I was and very carefully picked out the nicest cherries for me. I took my treasure and walked to the Luxembourg Gardens. I sat in the sun by the fountain, read my book and ate the entire bag of cherries, gratified at last.
Now that I am home, I'm back to my own market, and peas were in this week. I planted peas in my own garden again this year, but I'm a few weeks away from that harvest. This dish is very easy to make and is an absolutely delicious way to eat peas. You can have it as a side dish, or if you add a bit of cooking water from pasta and some Parmesan cheese, it makes a light dinner. I usually use prosciutto, but this week my husband got some smoked pork from the farmers' market and I cut very thin slices from that and then chopped it finely and it was really very good. Use the best olive oil you have for this, because there are so few ingredients, it really stands out.
Peas and Prosciutto
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups shelled peas
2 oz prosciutto
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese
- Heat olive oil in a pan. Add peas and a bit of water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the peas are just cooked, anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes depending on the age of the peas.
- If you are making a pasta sauce, add a ladle or two of the cooking water to the peas. Add prosciutto and pepper and stir. Taste before adding salt, as the prosciutto is quite salty.
- Spoon over pasta, or eat as a side dish, with a bit of Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Related Posts:
How to Go Green: Travel and Outdoors
Grow Your Own Vegetables: Sugar Snap Peas
A Colourful Beet, Avocado and Pea Shoot Salad
Find Your Dinner at the Farmers' Market
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