Pasta with Asparagus, Mozzarella & Prosciutto
This is a recipe from Giada’s Everday Italian cookbook. I changed it up a bit, according to what ingredients I had on hand. The kids LOVED this. Who can’t resist prosciutto and mozzarella, anyway??
ingredients:
salt
1 package (12-16 oz) tubular pasta
1-1/2 pounds asparagus
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 ounces diced mozzarella cheese
6 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into small pieces
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water is boiling, prep your ingredients. Trim the asparagus and cut diagonally into 1 inch pieces. Dice your mozzarella and cut up the prosciutto.
Add the pasta and cook for 5 minutes stirring often. (Giada suggests ziti, I used fusilli.) Add the asparagus and cook until the pasta is tender but firm and the asparagus is crip-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Drain the pasta and the asparagus, reserving 1-1/2 cups of the cooking liquid.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant (DO NOT BURN). Only about 20 seconds. Add the pasta and asparagus, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and the 1-1/2 cups of reserved cooking liquid. Why the pasta water? It keeps the pasta from sticking, due to the starch that is in the water.
Toss to coat. Remove from the heat and add the mozzarella and prosciutto. Toss to combine. Transfer to a platter and serve.
I’m sure you can change this up with broccoli instead of asparagus, ham instead of prosciutto, but the flavors of the base recipe are so good, I think I’d leave it the way it is. This is a very simple recipe and was a big hit with the whole family.
