By Mark Bittman
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- 5(341)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Since I began eating more plants and less meat, I’ve experimented with using small amounts of meat in ways that exploit its flavor without making it central to the dish. In this recipe — pasta with spring vegetables — the meat is literally a garnish, but one with huge impact.
That meat is prosciutto, and it’s briefly cooked in a bit of oil, which accomplishes two things: It intensifies the ham’s salty, meaty flavor, and it makes the prosciutto crisp, turning it into a nice textural foil for the tender pasta, peas and lettuce.
You do need three pans to make this dish — a small skillet, a large skillet and a large pot for the pasta — but it’s so fast that a little extra cleanup seems worth the trouble.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- Salt
- 3tablespoons olive oil
- 2 to 3ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut crosswise into ½-inch-wide strips
- 1pound pasta
- 2tablespoons butter
- 1shallot, minced
- Black pepper to taste
- 2cups peas, fresh or frozen
- 1head Bibb or Boston lettuce (about 6 ounces), cored, leaves cut into ¾-inch slices
- ½cup chicken or vegetable stock or dry white wine, more as needed
- 1cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
830 calories; 29 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 102 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 39 grams protein; 976 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it. Meanwhile, put one tablespoon oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add prosciutto and cook, turning occasionally, until crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes; set aside.
Step
2
When water boils, add pasta and cook until just tender; drain pasta, reserving some cooking liquid. Meanwhile, melt butter with remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and sprinkle with salt and pepper; cook until shallot begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
Step
3
Add peas, lettuce and stock or wine to skillet and cook until peas turn bright green and lettuce is wilted, about 5 minutes. Add pasta to pan and continue cooking and stirring until everything is just heated through, adding extra stock or some reserved cooking liquid if needed to moisten. Toss with Parmesan cheese, garnish with prosciutto, adjust seasoning to taste and serve.
Ratings
5
out of 5
341
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Cooking Notes
Maureen
It would seem two skillets are overkill here. No reason the prosciutto can't be cooked in the large skillet, removed from the pan when cooked, and then simply cook the shallot (and later the peas & lettuce) there.
kaye
How 'bout cooking the peas, etc., in the same pan used for the prosciutto? Added flavor and one less pan to wash!
Andrea
I like the simplicity of the dish. I would use radicchio as the leafy veg to cut the richness of butter,prosciutto and parmesan.
Paul Thompson
A lovely summer pasta dish.I used Canadian back bacon as I didn't have proscuitto at hand. Mark's timing i.e. and cook it s just right as long as you have everything ready before hand. I also added a tiny bit from our first summer squash--excellent. Next time I'm going to add more lettuce and cook it less. An excellent pasta dish which we complemented with a Spring salad from the garden. Yum!
David Ostrow
I was actually looking for a recipe for green and yellow pasta nicknamed “straw and hay” and was one of the first pasta recipes I had learned from my stepfather (who was a chef from No Italy). Found this and substituted items I had on hand-Genoa salami for the prosciutto and a mixture of Belgian endive and radicchio for the lettuce. Wilting the lettuces eliminated any bitter aftertaste and the final dish was extremely flavorful.
Pat Brownlie
Liked this recipe because it includes peas, which I love, and prosciutto. Have since made it with pancetta, which gives it a totally different flavor. Could also be made with spinach or even kale instead of the lettuce.
Betty
Great dish! Used fresh English peas and kale. Striking colors of kale and prosciutto with the pasta looks beautiful. Texture and flavor of crisp prosciutto works well. This is a light, simple dish I'll keep in mind.
Barbara
what about pancetta instead of the prosciutto?
hipmom
I used arugula instead of bibb ettuce. My family loved it!
thellen
It would be nice to have the instruction about saving pasta water to moisten sauce if necessary BEFORE the instruction to drain the pasta, not afterwards...
Recipe is nice.
Casey
Literally one of the worst recipes I've ever come across. If you want wilted lettuce and flavorless pasta, jump right in. Otherwise, Bittman really disappoints here.
Katie F
Pleasant recipe, but ho-hum. Badly needed an herb; fresh basil helped. But the fundamental recipe a bit dull. Swapped spinach for lettuce.
Chris
So bland. So disappointing. Followed recipe to a tee but used arugula which I thought might ‘spice’ it up. Did not. Needs some cream and/or cheese in the sauté pan plus more punch than shallots.
Michele
Delicious and so easy for a quick weeknight meal. Added frozen asparagus I had instead of lettuce. I also reduced the skillets - set aside the pancetta (subbed for the prosciutto) and drained off the fat, and then cooked the onion & peas in the same pan. Easier clean up. I also used linguini for pasta, which worked out great.
Jean
Used one Instant Pot method, easy prep and cleanup.
Mariam
Delicious! I didn’t have a flavorful lettuce so I subbed romaine and it still tastes great.
Susan from Luxembourg
I have a pet peeve about cooking prosciutto which has already been cured/cured. Plus a good prosciutto is expensive and should not be ruined by sauteing. If you must have something crispy, use pancetta.Otherwise this was pleasant. I added some asparagus that needed to be eaten in addition to the peas and lettuce. Used a lot of freshly ground black pepper and Parmigiana Reggiano. And scattered the prosciutto over the top. Tasty. PS I also only used one pot for the pasta and a wok for the rest.
julia
Really tasty! Agree with the suggestion of using only one pan, just remove the prosciutto and then cook veggies. Subbed chopped baby kale because I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about cooked lettuce and I have no regrets. The flavor of the wine was subtle but nice. Will make again.
Kathleen
This was a good weeknight dinner. The crispy prosciutto was excellent and something I will incorporate into future dishes! Next time I will hold off on adding the lettuce until right before the boiled pasta is added to the pan. My lettuce got too wilted and didn’t add much to the dish.
Name Eva Santos-Phillips
I used small pieces of leftover Easter ham, snow peas, and spinach because it was I had on hand. It turned quite well. I liked the simplicity, yet the robust flavor of the ham.
Swirt
Added asparagus pieces and substituted arugula for the Bibb lettuce. Also spinach. The crisped prosciutto was heavenly. Grated pecorino Romano at the table. Lots of pepper. Delicious and easy meal. Bravo Bittman!
Tom
Use radicchio instead of lettuce
Diane
Great with kale instead of lettuce!
Luisa
Delicious and super easy. I didn’t have prosciutto so made it vegetarian . Also added some pine nuts at the end.
Nance
Oh yeah! This is a recipe to riff on. Used Romaine and sugar snap peas since that’s what I had. Topped it off with a little Japanese Togarashi, but just some red pepper flakes would do it, too. A keeper!
tumi
Love the recipe. I would use 3/4 of the pasta the next time. The crispy prosciutto was heavenly!
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