Lemon spaghetti with parma ham

In these corona virus times, we are told to be confined in our homes and even simple food shopping has become a major procedure to be postponed as much as possible. From a few simple ingredients it is possible to make a “creamy”, tasty, and healthy pasta dish.

Instead of real cream I used thick French fromage blanc  0% fat and added a generous amount of good local olive oil. If you don’t have fromage blanc in your shop, you could use thick Greek yoghurt or crème fraîche. If it is low-fat or zero fat, simply use more olive oil and it works well in this recipe.

I topped the spaghetti with slices of parma ham, but smoked salmon, defrosted shrimp, or tinned sardines would go just as well. Feel free to experiment!

2 servings

Juice of ½ lemon
100g fromage blanc 0% fat or Greek yoghurt or crème fraîche
2 – 3 tbsp. good olive oil
A handful of grated parmesan
1 clove garlic, minced
Freshly ground black pepper
4-6 slices of parma ham
1 tsp. dried parsley
Spaghetti, pref. organic whole wheat, for 2 servings

Brush the lemon with liquid soap and rinse to remove any possibly lingering corona viruses. Then press ½ lemon into juice.

Bring the pasta cooking water to a boil, add the spaghetti and cook as long as indicated on the package.

While the pasta is cooking, pace the fromage blanc / yoghurt in a large bowl. Add the grated parmesan, olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, dried parsley, and black pepper. Stir well.

When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it and add to the bowl. Toss well, the sauce thickens and coats every spaghetti strand.

Divide the spaghetti into two bowls and top with parma ham.