Creamy pasta with peas and prosciutto

I always have the ingredients on hand to prepare this dish because it comes together so easily and tastes so good! I’m not including too much on serving sizes or quantities with this recipe as it is super flexible depending upon your number of guests and everyone has their own preference for sauce vs. pasta ratio. I don’t like when pasta is swimming in sauce, so I’m careful not to add too much cream. The great news is that you can always add more cream (and more Parmigiano Reggiano) to suit your taste. I’m also a prosciutto freak, so you’ll see I go all in with it. Don’t be intimidated. This is a very forgiving dish.

Ingredients:

• 3 oz. traditional prosciutto (dry cured ham)
• One tablespoon olive oil
• One finely diced shallot (or a small sweet onion, if you don’t have a shallot at the ready)
• One cup frozen peas
• Pasta (any shape, fresh or packaged)
• Heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (we always have a wedge in the refrigerator)
• Freshly ground pepper

Tip: In my opinion, the best way to make crispy prosciutto (and bacon) is in the oven on a rack set within a sheet pan. I’m also very lazy about clean up, so I line the pan with Reynolds wrap and spray the rack with Bak-Klene. Alternatively, you could also bake the prosciutto on a silicone baking mat in the pan.

1. Bake prosciutto in a 350 degree oven until crispy, and set aside.
2. Boil water for your pasta in a large pot. The timing depends on whether you are using fresh or packaged pasta. If you are using packaged pasta, you can actually cook the pasta, drain it, and set it aside to be added to the sauce at the end. Be sure to reserve some of your pasta water to add to the sauce, if the sauce is too thick. Also, make sure not to overcook your pasta. We’re going for al dente here.
3. In a large sauce pan, saute the shallot in on low/medium low until softened.
4. Add the frozen peas and stir until the defrost and are just warm to the touch. Mushy peas are not your friend unless you’re British.
5. Add the heavy whipping cream and Parmiagiano Reggiano. I usually start with about 1/2 cup of cream so I’m not overpowering the dish with too much sauce. Stir for a minute or two until the sauce slightly thickens.
6. Add freshly ground pepper to taste.
7. Add the pasta and, if needed, some of your reserved pasta water to achieve your desired consistency.
8. Crumble and then add the prosciutto.

I like to serve fresh bread that has been toasted with a hint of olive oil and then rubbed with a garlic clove with this dish. Also, the combination of shallots, heavy whipping cream and Parmiagiano Reggiano is a cream sauce you can adapt for any pasta dish. Use your imagination and give it a try!

Best,

Lisa