Balsamic Braised Ham with Italian Vegetables

A lot of people ask me when you typically run out of Paleo ideas?

This is paleo recipe number 200. It turns out that ideas dry up in the 150's someplace.

So I have the big trip to Arizona in a few days and I needed to make sure my ducks were in a row, I was therefore, fairly brief with my cooking exploits tonight. That being said, I had some ingredients on hand and a willing guinea pig in my room mate before I actually had to post this award winning ham dish.

Here is the scenario: I bought a 2 pound ham, which I thought I would be eating for breakfast, but quickly realized that I was running out of time. Also, I had purchased both summer squash and tomatoes that needed to be devoured before Friday night (which I have to spend at my Father's house before the trip). I would have thought that these ingredients were a lame simple flavor combination that we know will work, but is it amazing? Here's how to make it great.

The idea behind this dish is to find an Italian flavored substitute for those who might crave pasta. Pasta is fairly flavorless, and more of a carrier of sauce than a signature taste. Therefore, if we use something almost equally flavorless that can be cooked al dente and that can carry a similar amount of sauce as pasta, it should be a perfect substitute. This can be accomplished by any number of vegetables, but I had summer squash.

So, to cook squash al dente, you need all portions of a cut up squash to cook to the same firmness, at the same time. This can never be accomplished by trying to Julianne long strips of squash. Rather, and for the same reason frozen squash only comes thickly sliced, we have to thickly slice this squash to make it al dente. 3/8" thick slices work perfectly.

To cook the veggies you need to sauté the classic 5 Italian seasons together with a little garlic. The classic five are: oregano (pungent), sage (pungent), basil (minty), thyme (minty), and rosemary (floral). Use a good amount of olive oil, like 1/4 cup for 5 squashes, and heat the herbs with garlic on very low heat for a while. Then, sauté the squash, covered, for ten plus minutes. Stir five or six times. And when you are ready to combine with the ham, turn off the heat and add three thickly diced tomatoes. Stir for a few minutes unheated.

Meanwhile, cut about a half pound of ham into bite sized pieces. Put 2T of extra virgin olive oil in a pan a sauté with a minced garlic clove and 1t of crushed red pepper, salt and pepper, and 2T of balsamic vinegar. This one step is the big deviation from anything I have ever done. I never emulsify balsamic in boiling olive oil. I will now start doing it all the time, it was amazing. Add the ham and oil-braise until seared (ham is already cooked). Stir in veggies and serve with excess olive oil.

Amazing.

PS I put shaved Parmesan on this and it was even better.