Pasta with Mascarpone and Prosciutto

Ingredients
1 pound short pasta
2 tablespoons butter
12 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced then cut into small pieces
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
4-5 cups fresh spinach (I used the whole bag shown here.) 10 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups mascarpone cheese
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 cups reserved pasta water

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain well, reserving 2 cups of cooking water.  Return pasta to pot and toss with 2 tablespoons butter. 

2.  Sauté prosciutto in large skillet over medium-low heat until it begins to curl and shrink around the edges, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Remove prosciutto to a plate. 

3.  Add 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil to skillet and sauté garlic and spinach over low heat until garlic is fragrant and spinach has wilted.  Add pasta water to cover bottom of skillet, mascarpone, and lemon peel.  Stir until mascarpone has melted.  Increase heat to medium-low, add Parmesan cheese and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.  If sauce is too dry, add extra pasta water. 

4. In pasta pot or skillet, combine pasta, spinach-cheese sauce, prosciutto, lemon juice, and parsley.  Stir well to combine and add extra pasta water if thinner sauce is desired. 

Comments
This recipe is from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice and it was certainly nice!  It’s hard to go wrong with prosciutto though, it’s such a powerful meat.  In fact it was almost overpowering in this dish!  Thankfully we all love prosciutto and we devoured this both with dinner the night I made it and the next few days with leftovers.  It heated up very well for leftovers, which is always a bonus for a household that relies on dinner leftovers for lunches. 

Lance was very surprised when I informed him that the pasta sauce came from mascarpone cheese, he’s not a super huge lover of cheese but he loved this dish anyway.  I served it with a very simply prepared fish which worked well due to all the strong flavors in the pasta.

If, like me, you are prone to forgetting to reserve pasta water, a good way to remind yourself is to put a measuring cup into the sieve when you put it in the sink before you start cooking.

Shown here with Broiled Cod.

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