This dish is one of the boyfriend’s creations – a fragrant mixture of spices, herbs and ham tossed through spaghetti, and served with plenty of cheese – inspired by a rather bare refrigerator.

dried spaghetti (this is also great with fettucine – I’ve been using Barilla pasta recently, which is really nice, and I like the boxes it comes in)
100 grams ham slices
1 onion
small tin of crushed tomatoes, or several cubed fresh tomatoes
mountain pepper berry (a native Australian spice)
fresh thyme
fresh oregano
olive oil

Put the water onto boil for the spaghetti, and at the appropriate time pop it in to cook. I generally snap my spaghetti in half – dreadful, I know – to make it easier to fit into the saucepan.

Chop the ham and onion, and pop them into a gently heated and oiled frying pan. While they’re cooking, grind the mountain pepper berries in a mortar and pestle, adding several good pinches of fresh thyme and oregano and a slosh of olive oil to make a peppery pesto-type mixture.

Add the tomatoes to the ham mixture, followed by the ground herbs. Stir well. When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it, and add it to the frying pan. Using tongs, carefully mix the sauce through the spaghetti (this is a rather delicate procedure in our small frying pan), and continue mixing over the heat for several minutes. Serve immediately with a nice sharp cheese grated over the top.