Project Description

Linguine with Spinach and Prosciutto

This dish is a recipe that wrote itself or maybe our refrigerator wrote it. One night after work, with not much on hand and a rumbling tummy, I decided to surrender to auto pilot and just make a simple aglio e oglio for dinner. Don’t get me wrong. Simple is delicious and we love a good garlic and oil, but luckily my imagination got in the way and suddenly a simple go-to dish blossomed into something new. The addition of spinach and prosciutto added a salty but fresh flavor to our stand by meal. Taking a little extra time to decide the correct seasonings and quantities created a wonderful balance in this meal and really paid off in terms of dinner that night. If you’re thinking that you simply don’t have the time to labor over such details every time you cook dinner, don’t worry about it. We’ve got you covered.

Take a look at the blog post A Classic Dish Gets A Makeover for step by step instruction and some tips and tricks.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb linguine
  • 8 ounces fresh spinach
  • 1/8 pound of prosciutto, sliced thin
  • 1/2 cup of olive oil
  • 3-4 cloves garlic
  • 1 bayleaf
  • Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper to taste
  • Fresh basil
  • Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Instructions

  1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
  2. Remove the stems from the spinach and set aside.
  3. Tear slices of prosciutto into smaller strips and set aside.
  4. Once the pasta water has come to a roaring boil, drop the linguine in. The linguine will be cooked to al dente in about 9 minutes
  5. While the pasta is cooking, in a small sauce pan (we use 1 qt) heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and bayleaf and saute until the garlic is lightly golden in color turning with tongs or a fork to color each side. Add some crush red pepper midway through.
  6. Meanwhile in a large skillet lightly drizzle olive oil over the surface of the pan. Once the pasta is almost done (around 8 minutes), heat the oil over medium heat and ad the spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Stir the spinach so it incorporates the oil and remove form heat.
  7. If the garlic reaches a golden color before the pasta is done (and it probably will), remove it from the heat and discard the garlic and bayleaf.
  8. Once the pasta is done, reserve about a cup of pasta water this is more than you will need) and set aside. Be certain the gas is closed under the oil and add a ladle of pasta water to it. Be careful as the hot oil may splash.
  9. Strain the pasta and add it to the spinach and heat on low. Add the oil and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Add a splash of the reserved cooking water as needed to help coat the pasta.
  10. Remove pasta from heat and transfer to serving bowl. Stir in prosciutto and serve immediately. Top with Parmigiano and fresh basil.