Penne alla San Giovanni


I forgot about this recipe. I hadn't made it in 5 years.

Penne alla San Giovanni.

Pasta with fried sage leaves, prosciutto and walnuts.

Basic, simple, you have everything in the house (maybe), and you can whip this up after work on a weeknight in no time.

Not sure of the true origins of this pasta dish, I found it in my Little Italy (NYC) Cookbook.

I like to use speck (smoked prosciutto) in this recipe for more flavor.

Everyone loves this dish and it takes all of 10 minutes, including boiling the water for the pasta!


Penne alla San Giovanni (Pasta w/ Fried Sage, Prosciutto, and Walnuts): adapted from David Ruggierro

4 oz. of smoked prosciutto (speck), diced
5 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped roughly
salt & pepper
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 lb. penne pasta
1/2 stick of butter
25 sage leaves

Cook the pasta as per directions on the box (save 1/4 cup of the pasta water).

In a heavy skillet heat the olive oil and cook the garlic, prosciutto and walnuts on medium heat until the prosciutto starts to brown (watch that the garlic doesn't burn). Once this is done, take your pan off the heat/burner.

Add your cooked, drained penne pasta to the skillet and mix with the prosciutto mixture. Add 1/2 cup of parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese and toss together, adding in some of the starchy pasta water.


Sprinkle with a bit of salt and cracked black pepper.

In a separate skillet, cook 1/2 stick of butter and the 25 sage leaves on medium heat for about 2 minutes till the sage leaves are crisping up.
Pour the sage butter on top of the pasta and serve.
*(and if you are lazy, like me, you can cook the prosciutto, sage, butter, garlic and walnuts all in one pan!).


Enjoy!

Comments

Susan..... said…
I love fresh sage in any pasta dish and even butter and sage is enough but butter, sage and pork? Done!!
Natalia said…
I must admit I don't use sage a lot, but it looks like the sage really changes the taste in this dish so I've got to try it.
(I'm a big fan of prosciutto - we always have it in the house, I make sandwiches with it, and we serve it with cheese and olives whenever we want a snack after work. It has basically replaced ham in our household.)

Stacey Snacks said…
Natalia,
Try the smoked prosciutto (aka Swiss Ham, or Speck), it's even better than regular prosciutto! especially in this dish!

Stacey
Kelly said…
My sage plant is going crazy, I will def be making this tonight! It looks SO good!
Ciao Chow Linda said…
Love this recipe Stacey - although I am not a fan of speck with that smoky flavor. I'll be using prosciutto instead. My sage plants didn't survive the winter and I'll need to replant.
Randy said…
Made this tonight.
Husband kissed me afterwards and asked me who taught me to cook???? !!

Thank you!
Patsy said…
That looks ridiculously good!!