Corny Ham Spaghetti

On New Year's Day, I was invited for a movie marathon over my SFC friend Ecko's house. His mom served us a very interesting and delicious fettuccini that made me ask his mom over and over how she did it. Before we left, she told me the recipe, and last week, I tried it, and although it wasn't as delicious as how Ecko's mom did it, I could say that I still loved it.

The recipe was just on my head, so although I had the recipe to guide me, along the way, I had some modifications. Here's how I cooked this:

Ingredients:

• 250 grams spaghetti noodles (cooked per package directions)
• 4 slices cooked sweet ham, diced
• 1 pack (350g) Knorr Cream of Asparagus soup
• 2 1/2 cups fresh milk
• 1/4 cup all purpose cream
• 4 tablespoons corn kernels
• a dash of pepper
• a dash of garlic powder
• a dash of nutmeg (optional)
• a dash of Italian seasoning (optional)
• grated cheese
• toasted garlic bits (optional)
  

Directions for Cooking:

• Dilute the contents of the soup pack in milk and cream. If you don't have fresh milk, evaporated milk can be used as well.
• Once everything is mixed, bring it to a boil.
• Add the diced ham and season it according to your preference.
• When it starts to thicken up, add the corn, stir and turn off the heat.
• Depends of your preference, mix the sauce with the pasta or just pour some over.
• Top with grated cheese and garlic bits.

Just so you know... nutmeg is optional. This dish can do without it, but since we have it in our pantry, I used it for this dish. Personally, I love nutmeg on creamy sauces and soup, and should you have some, don't put too much of it because it will make your sauce sweet.

The garlic bits may come as something weird, but it really worked. However, don't put too much in your plate because it tends to be a little bitter. If you plan to serve this dish as is, I suggest that you place the garlic bits in a separate plate (don't mix it in your sauce) and let the eaters sprinkle their own plates with garlic. It's an acquired taste - some people like it, some people don't. I am very much into garlicky foods, so I tend to put quite a lot of garlic in my plate.. I love the taste of the sauce and cheese and garlic exploding in my mouth.

Taking it from Ecko's mom - Knorr has a lot of creamy soup flavors, you can try any of those if you want to. Other ingredients that can be used for this dish includes mushroom, canned tuna, bacon, and other cold cuts.

Big thanks to Ecko's mom for the recipe.

*** Jenn ***