Andyboy Cooks!

Pasta with Lemon Cream and Prosciutto

 

This is a nice and simple pasta dish that you can eat for dinner at home or serve to company. The presentation of the draped prosciutto is really something else. If you look through the ingredients there may be one that jumps out as a little peculiar: mint. Trust me... it works. Many people who haven't cooked with mint before assume that the sweetness that is often associated with it (candy, for example) is a natural part of the herb, and it isn't. It's the same thing with chocolate. Chocolate isn't sweet, but it becomes sweet when you add a boatload of sugar to it. The mint here is terrific and will have your guests scratching there heads (which is aways a good thing). The recipe came from Epicurious (but I think it may have come from Giada DeLaurentis first). One last note - I used fresh fettucini insteat of penne. :)

Pasta with Lemon Cream and Prosciutto

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 large shallots, minced
3/4 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups frozen green peas, thawed
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
12 ounces penne pasta

12 thin slices prosciutto
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add broth. Simmer over medium-high heat until mixture is reduced to 1/4 cup, about 2 minutes. Add cream, lemon peel, orange peel, and cayenne. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Add peas; simmer just until heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in mint and lemon juice. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain; return pasta to pot. Toss pasta with sauce to coat.

Divide pasta among plates or bowls. Drape prosciutto slices atop pasta and serve, passing Parmesan separately.

Makes 4 servings.

Angel Hair with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

 

This is a terrific recipe that covers the three most important cooking criteria for me: delicious, easy, affordable. All recipes need to be delicious of course, and I'm more than happy to try something complex, or spend a little bit of green on some higher priced ingredients (usually seafood). But let's be honest here. We all want to know at least a few really tasty recipes that we can whip up on the fly, especially after a long day when you may barely want to be in the kitchen at all. Now, granted, sun-dried tomatoes and goat's cheese aren't the cheapest things around, but you can dry your own tomatoes in the oven for a cheaper alternative (more on that later) and you can easily substitute a healthy portion of freshly grated Parm. Reggiano for the goat's cheese. The flavours from the white wine and tomato paste really pop here and it's a good enough dish with which to entertain. Don't skimp on the parsley - it's a critical ingredient here. And as for the choice of wine, don't skimp either. You should always cook with a wine that you would drink. When it comes to tomato based sauces that call for white wine I generally use a Pinot Grigio, but you can go with whatever you like (maybe not chardonnay). The recipe comes from Giada DiLaurnetis and it's well worth your time. The whole thing takes about a half hour. Oh... one last thing. I used spaghetti here instead of the Angel Hair pasta because that's what I had on hand. Bon Appetito!

Angel Hair with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

1 (10-ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped (oil reserved)
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup tomato paste
2/3 cup dry white wine
8 ounces angel hair pasta
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the wine and sun-dried tomatoes and simmer until the liquid reduces by half, about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the tomato mixture and toss to coat, adding some reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta, to taste, with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the goat cheese and parsley and stir. Mound the pasta into bowls and serve.