Usually Friday night is a spaghetti with tomato sauce night (and usually I don't even have to cook it). But tonight proved to be a somewhat abberant version, since I decided to experiment. Very reminiscent of Carbonara. It was quick to prepare and wonderful to consume. Just be careful not to overload on the proscuitto as it's generally quite salty.
Proscuitto and Cream Sauce
from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
1/4 pound sliced proscuitto
3 TBSP butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound pasta
1/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Recommended pasta: The sauce works equally well with fettucine or tonnarelli, or with green tortellini, and with short tubular macaroni such as penne or rigatoni. (Penne this time.)
Shred the proscuitto into narrow strips. Put into a saucepan with butter, and cook over medium heat for about two minutes or until browned. Add the heavy cream and cook, stirring frequently, until you have thickened and reduced it by at least one-third. Toss the sauce with the cooked drained pasta, add the cheese, toss again, and serve with additional cheese on the side. (And I chose to add a bit of fresh ground black pepper also.)
Posted by Jennifer at June 6, 2003 9:23 PMMmmm... a very nice variation on the Italian cream sauce theme. The trick here, I think, is to be careful to balance the ratio of proscuitto to sauce.
Posted by: Michael at June 9, 2003 9:00 PM