Dinner is Served: Spam Pasta Salad

By the time this post is up, I’ll be on a jet plane for a business trip in LA. It’s been 6 months since we moved to SF and 4 months since my last visit there. Frederick has been dying to move back to LA, or at least visit there for a short vacation. Sad to say, his job is more demanding than mine and there’s no reason for him to travel there. I’m actually the opposite, I don’t miss living in LA, other than K-Town, lol.

As usual, I tend to clean up my fridge before I leave home for too long. Wait, is three days consider too long? I guess so coz I don’t like coming home to spoiled rotten veggies and this is actually a perfect time to ‘clean-up-the-fridge’. Not only that, do you know that today is National Pasta Day? I love having pasta for breakfast, lunch, or dinner – for salad, entree, or side dish. I don’t think I’ve ever seen pasta for dessert. Hmmm…maybe one day. Anyways, pasta is one of the world’s most favorite foods and there are over 600 shapes of pasta. Amazing, isn’t it?

Pasta’s origins are ancient. Contrary to popular belief however, Marco Polo did not discover pasta in Asia and bring it to Italy.  In fact, in 1279 a.d., a will drafted by Ponzio Bastone was found bequething a storage bin of macceroni when Marco Polo was still in the Far East. Early Romans used a very simple flour and water dough. Pasta is the Italian word for dough. Thomas Jefferson introduced pasta to the Americas after first tasting it in Naples, Italy. He was the American Ambassador to France at the time. In 1789, he brought the first pasta machine, along with crates of macaroni, back to the United States. Pasta became a common North American food in the late 19th century with the surge in Italian immigration. Well, that’s enough history lesson of today, and now it’s recipe time, but you can check here for more info on pasta. Now, to reward myself, I decided to add fried runny egg and avocado. I always think these two are buddies that almost go well in almost every meal.

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups spam, cubed
• 1½ cups penne or your favorite pasta
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup onion, diced
• ½ cup corn kernels, thawed
• ½ – 1 tsp sea salt + more if needed
• 1 tbs salt
• Dash of paprika
• 1 tbs basil, thinly sliced
• ½ tbs olive oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs avocado, cubed
  1/2 cup cherry/ grape tomatoes

Directions:

1. Fill a large pot about 2/3 of the way with water and add 1 tbs salt over high heat. When water starts to boil, turn down the stove and add the pasta, then stir with a long serving spoon. Don’t let them stick to the bottom.
2. Check the package for suggested cooking time. After 8-10 mins, try a piece of pasta and bite it. If it’s too hard to bite, it needs to cook a little longer. The pasta is ready when it’s cooked all the way through and still firm, and that’s referred to as al dente in Italian. Using a strainer, set the pasta aside and reserve the pasta water. Shake out the excess water.
3. Preheat a pan over medium heat, and add the spam. Let is cook until golden brown for about 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
4. In a same pan, add the oil over medium-high heat (you can omit this step if the pan has enough oil from the spam). Add garlic and onion and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the spam back to the pan, then add corn. Mix it together for about 1 minute.
5. Add the pasta to the pan, then add sea salt, paprika, basil. Try not adding too much salt since the pasta is salty enough. Set aside.
6. Fried Runny Egg: Add oil in the frying pan over high heat – just enough to coat the pan. Break the egg gently and immediately lower the heat to low. Baste the oil over the top of the egg and cook until the white is firm and the yolk is thick but not firm. You can check the consistency by shaking the pan gently and observing how the egg jiggles. Remove from the heat and gently place the fried egg over pasta.
7. To serve: add cherry tomatoes, avocado, and fried runny egg over pasta.

For printed recipe, please click here