Spaghetti with Marmite : Cook Like A Star - Mar/Apr

The combination of spaghetti with Marmite sounds interesting to me. I found this recipe in "Nigella Kitchen", one of my favourite cookbook of Nigella's. This recipe uses only three ingredients, butter, Marmite, parmesan cheese and of course the spaghetti. I'm not sure whether will my kids like it as it is kinda plain, and since I'm cooking this for their after school lunch, I've added in a couple of ingredients to make the dish more appealing to my kids.

According to Nigella, this recipe is taken from Anna Del Conte's memoirs, Risotto with Nettles, who describes this recipe as "hardly a recipe, but I wanted to include it because I haven't as yet found a child who doesn't like it". 

 Spaghetti with Marmite, as per the book's version.

Really easy and quick to make. Cook the spaghetti as per package instructions. Drain. Melt some butter in a saucepan and add in the Marmite, adding a little of the pasta water and let come to a bubble. Pour over the drained pasta and toss to combine. Serve with plenty of grated Parmesan cheese.

I have however added a few more ingredients, chopped ham bits, chopped chives and coarse chilli flakes. I find that 1 teaspoon of Marmite is not enough and have used about 1-1/2 tablespoons in total.

Firstly I heated some oil in a saucepan and stir-fry the chopped ham until they are lightly browned, remove to a plate. In the same saucepan, melt the butter, Marmite and about 1/3 cup of the pasta water, mix well and let it come to a bubble. Pour over drained pasta, and toss to combine.

 Sprinkled with some fried chopped ham and chopped chives ....

.... and spice it up with some coarse chilli flakes.

Overall, this is a very nice pasta dish. I do not have any Parmesan cheese at hand, and have skipped it, perhaps it will taste much better eating the original version with the Parmesan cheese. On the other hand, the addition of the ham, chives and chilli flakes certainly makes it yummier! Stamp of approval from both my kids!

(note my changes in blue)
Spaghetti with Marmite
(adapted from "Nigella Kitchen", Nigella Lawson)
Serves 4-6
12 ounces dried spaghetti
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon Marmite, or more to taste
freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
300gm chopped ham
minced chives, for sprinkling over
coarse chilli flakes

1. Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water, following the package instructions.
2. When the pasta is almost cooked, melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the Marmite and 1 tablespoons of the pasta water, mixing thoroughly to dissolve. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water ; then drain the pasta and pour the Marmite mixture over the drained spaghetti. adding a little reserved pasta water to amalgamate if required. Serve with plenty of grated Parmesan cheese. (I stir-fry the chopped ham in a little oil, remove and drain. Use the same pan to melt the butter and the marmite as stated in the recipe).
3. Serve the spaghetti with some fried chopped ham sprinkled over and garnish with chopped chives, and some coarse chilli flakes if desired.

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Cook Like A Star is entering it's third year this March! How time flies! To celebrate Cook Like A Star's 2nd anniversary, for the months of March and April, Cook Like A Star is having an All Star Anniversary Party! Isn't this exciting? Cook or bake from any of the previous featured chefs' recipes, and they are :

Ina Garten

Jamie Oliver

Nigella Lawson

Curtis Stone

Ree Drummond

Bill Granger

Masterchefs

Martha Steward

Delia Smith

Donna Hay

The hosts for All-Stars Anniversary Party are, Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Mich of Piece of Cake and Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Everyone is welcome to join us, cook or bake from any of the above chefs' recipes and link your posts to the linky below or from any of the hosts' page. Your post must be current. Feel free to use the above logo in your blog post. Please mention the following :

I'm linking this post to Cook Like A Star, All-Stars Anniversary Party, hosted by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Mich of Piece of Cake and Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

See you at the Party!

From 1st March to 30th April!

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