MarloElaine

A couple of months ago, I was grocery shopping at my local Trader Joe’s. They were featuring samples of Prosciutto Pasta, which my kids absolutely loved. After they ate two mini-helpings each, I decided to buy all five ingredients listed in the recipe that they handed out. It was easy to prepare and my family gobbled up the healthy, tasty dish.

Last week, I wanted to make the Prosciutto Pasta again, but I misplaced the recipe card. I scoured the Trader Joe’s website, but could not find the recipe. I emailed Trader Joe’s, but unfortunately, they did not have a copy of the recipe because it was created by the local store. I searched my favorite recipe websites, but could not find the recipe I was looking for. I decided to search my kitchen again, and I found the tiny white scrap of paper containing the treasured recipe. I immediately typed it out and saved copies in my Palm Pilot and my email account so I would never lose it again.

Last night, I prepared the recipe again, with rave reviews from my youngest critics. Here is the recipe from the Trader Joe’s Kitchen:

Prosciutto Pasta

1 pkg Trader Joe’s Petite Frozen Peas
3 oz Trader Joe’s Shaved Parmesan/Reggianno
10-12 oz Penne Pasta
1 1/2 tsp TJ’s Pasta Seasoning
3 oz TJ’s Sliced Prosciutto

Slice prosciutto, prepare peas in microwave, add to large bowl. Prepare pasta according to package, reserve some pasta water. Add pasta to peas, add prosciutto, pasta seasoning, and a bit of pasta water. Add cheese last. The cheese and extra pasta water make the sauce.

I altered the recipe slightly using one 16 oz bag of frozen green peas (I couldn’t remember how big the bag of TJ’s peas was), one 16 oz box of Mostaccioli Rigati, 4 oz shaved parmesan cheese, 2 tsp TJ’s Pasta Seasoning, and 3.5 ounces of sliced prosciutto. I also reserved some cheese for garnish.

If you don’t have TJ’s Pasta Seasoning on hand, you could probably try to make your own. The listed ingredients are onion, garlic, basil, lemon peel, paprika, fennel, oregano, black pepper, ginger, thyme, and lemon oil.

I prefer to use scissors over a knife to cut the prosciutto into bite sized pieces. Be sure to separate the prosciutto layers after slicing it, otherwise it will clump when added to the pasta. I also took a shortcut and added the frozen peas in with the boiling pasta during the last few minutes of cooking. This did bring down the temperature of the pasta water significantly, so I had to cook the pasta and peas a little bit longer, but I thought it was worth it to minimize dirty dishes!

I don’t normally have prosciutto on hand, so next time I might experiment with this recipe using diced chicken breast, ham, or even Spam! Let me know if you have other suggestions or similar recipes. I’d love to hear your comments!