Be The Jam

We've come to the conclusion that we eat too much meat, so a conscious decision has been taken to cook more vegetarian dishes; in fact, I'm threatening to have an all-vegetarian August …   In any case, these lighter meals suit the muggy evenings we've been having lately. The following pasta dish is a doddle to prepare and thoroughly delicious. (The quantities given should satisfy three people.)

The wet garlic came from Melton Manor Farm (off Binsey Lane) in Oxford. (Their wonderful smoked garlic should also be on sale within the next few days.) The truffle-flavoured olive oil is from Waitrose – well worth the 9-mile trek down the Thames Path last weekend!

A variation on this meal would substitute broad beans for the artichoke hearts and dried pasta for the tagliatelle; I'd also add a couple of chopped red Thai chillies to this version.

 ~ 400g fresh egg tagliatelle

 ~ 5 gloves wet garlic (roughly chopped)

 ~ 8 or 10 small stalks of lemon thyme

 ~ 9 asparagus hearts (chopped into chunks)

 ~ 100 ml double cream

 ~ 1 tbsp truffle-flavoured olive oil

 ~ 25g unsalted butter

Place the chopped artichoke hearts on a plate in an oven at 100^oC.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the tagliatelle, return to the boil, stir once and simmer vigorously for 3 or 4 minutes. Drain and toss with the olive oil.

Meanwhile, melt the butter over a medium heat and add the garlic. After a couple of minutes, add the lemon thyme leaves and artichoke hearts (warm from the oven). Whilst the pasta is draining, add the cream and some black pepper, heat through , pour over the pasta and serve with a green salad.