Spring pasta

There comes a point, around about the middle of April, when the potatoes have gone into their pots and the broad beans are sprouting nicely, that I long for something properly Spring-like on the dinner table - no more winter cabbage and wilted carrots. Because we are wildly spoilt and I do buy frozen vegetables, I was able to indulge this yesterday with a quick-and-dirty recipe that took all of seven minutes to get on to the table. I kid you not:

Ingredients (to serve 2 adults and three hungry children)
250g pasta (spaghetti in this case)
250g (one packet) of cherry tomatoes
4 slices of ham
Peas and broadbeans enough to serve the family (I don't measure, I judge)
Optional extras, depending on the children involved: black olives, sauteed leeks.

Method
1) Cook your pasta. We've been having a lot of success with slinging it into boiling water, then putting the lid on tight and turning off the heat and letting it sit for the designated cooking time. It doesn't actually need to be boiling after all!
2) Heat the grill, the halve the tomatoes and put them on a baking tray, cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper, and put under the grill for 5-10 minutes, until they start to burst.
3) Boil a pan on water for the other vegetables. When the water is boiling, drop in the veg, slam on the lid and turn off the heat. Let them sit for 5 mintes.
4) Slice the ham roughly.
5) Drain the pasta and vegetables and tip the whole lot into a bowl altogether. Add a little olive oil and mix well. Serve

This went down particularly well with a dribble of balsamic vinegar each too; and has the advantage that if you have really fussy eaters, you can break it down into individual componants and serve what each person likes (with caveats like 'you must have one green thing').