Anticiplate

I have always had a misconception that when you make pasta it meant you had to put a bottled jar of red sauce over the top. Then, to finish the dish, you top it with fake parmesan cheese, and for an additional perk, you get to soak up the extra sauce with a piece of garlic bread.

Recently, Erik has been craving pasta. He told me the other day that I never cook pasta, which at first I disagreed with, but then I came to realize that it is partially true (maybe because of my misconception). I guess I always feel like pasta is such an easy dish to make, and does not seem “gourmet” in my opinion (unless you are eating at Tavolata). This dish, however, is an impressive pasta dish that took less than 15 minutes to make. 

Serves 4

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

8 slice prosciutto, thickly cut (ask the butcher to do this for you)

1 lb. penne pasta

5 oz. spinach

2 tbsp. good olive oil

2 tbsp. aged balsamic vinegar, plus more for drizzling

3/4 c. pine nuts, toasted

1/2 c. grated parmigiano reggiano

Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to broil. Cook prosciutto for 3 minutes or until crispy. Chop into bite size pieces and set aside. (Toast the pine nuts until lightly browned if you have not already)

Cook the pasta in a large pot of heavily salted boiling water until al dente. Drain. Put the spinach in the bottom of the hot pot and top with drained pasta. Stir in olive oil, balsamic, pine nuts, prosciutto, and parmigiano cheese. Season with salt and pepper. 

Place in bowl and drizzle with a little more aged balsamic. Serve with more parmigiano cheese.