Tagliatelle al Prosciutto (Tagliatelle with Prosciutto)

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Greetings pasta lovers! Tagliatelle al Prosciutto, a simple, scrumptious dish from Emilia-Romagna, is a preparation that is high in flavor yet low in effort. We love dishes like that, don’t we? Every cook needs dishes like this in their culinary arsenal. Tagliatelle al Prosciutto consists of fresh egg tagliatelle, Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and butter. That’s it! Some people, like me, also add shallot or onion. This is the perfect meal for those who want to prepare something delicious but are pressed for time.

Pasta obsessed…

If you have been following me for a while, you know that I make fresh pasta. I have taught friends and family to make it for years now. Recently, however, I have started to teach privately here in Bologna. Earlier this week, I had a student that really wanted to focus on technique. We spent our time learning how to make and knead the dough, then how to roll out pasta by hand with a rolling pin. Therefore, I needed a quick, yummy sauce that would be enjoyable but allow us to focus on what was needed. This was perfect!

Tagliatelle al Prosciutto…

I have had this dish many times over the years under a variety of names. Some call it Tagliatelle alla Romagnola, others Tagliatelle alla Petroniana (Petronio being the Patron Saint of Bologna). It is a recipe that clearly celebrates the decadent ingredients of the region. Sweet and salty Prosciutto di Parma, rich and nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, luscious and silky fresh egg pasta, and creamy butter. You know, a light dish…

For the pasta, you can use fresh, paper-thin tagliatelle as I did, or, you can try straw & hay pasta (paglia e fieno), meaning half spinach noodles, half egg noodles. Alternately, I’ve also seen it with all spinach noodles. (It’s wonderful that way.) In Bologna, you also see the sauce served with a pasta called strette, labeled as Strette al Prosciutto. According to some, that means tagliatelle noodles that have been rolled out a little thicker. To others, it means noodles the same thickness as tagliatelle but cut narrower. So confusing!

Pasta Fresca…

One of the keys to the preparation, at least here in Bologna, is the fresh pasta. For someone in these parts, the pasta needs to be made by hand and rolled out by hand with a rolling pin. Since making pasta at all, never mind by hand, is intimidating for many people, I give you permission to buy your fresh pasta! Or, at the very least, use a pasta machine to roll out your dough to make things approachable. If you don’t tell anyone, you can even serve this sauce on dried pasta. I won’t tell a soul…

Cooking the Italian way

After years of being in Italy, I’ve developed a theory on how skilled Italian cooks can whip up a meal for a large group without much stress. I believe it is because they weigh everything instead of measuring by volume as we do in the US. I hate to tell my fellow Americans, but our measurement system is a pain in the you-know-what. The metric system used by most of the world is so much more simple once you get used to it. Please invest in a cheap scale that can measure in pounds, ounces, kilograms, and grams. You will thank me.

This recipe is an example of how doing things by weight can simplify your life. I’ve created a recipe with a 2:1 ratio. Meaning, 2 parts pasta to 1 part prosciutto. So, if you are serving a decent-sized portion, you would start with 100 grams (3.5 oz.) of fresh tagliatelle and then use 50 grams (1.7 oz.) of prosciutto to sauce it with. The amounts of shallot, butter, and cheese are easily adjusted.

The joy of a kitchen scale

Here is an example, if you need to serve a group of varied people such as a little child, a teenage boy and a woman on a diet, you can serve each of them a different amount of pasta based on their appetites and needs. Calculate how much pasta you want to serve by weight, then use half that weight of prosciutto. Get it? The technique is the same, no matter how many people you are cooking for. These are the kinds of recipes that I think Italian cooks have memorized in their heads, and why whipping up a meal for a big group of people is less intimidating.

Pasta basics

Did you note that the weights in grams have no decimal points? Isn’t that easier? If you buy a scale, work in grams and calculate the correct portion sizes for your particular family. After some time, you will understand what quantity of pasta works for you. Many Italians eat about 70-80 grams of pasta per person. Some as much as 120 grams. It depends, of course, on appetite and how the pasta is being sauced. If you are on a permanent and annoying diet like I am, 65 grams is a guilt-free sized portion!

As I mentioned above, this sauce is traditional with fresh pasta. In the recipe below, I provide the ingredient amounts for two decent portions, assuming that the pasta is already prepared. If you want to make your own dough you may use the standard Italian recipe of 100 grams of 00 flour per egg. (Use a medium egg in Italy or a large egg in the US.) A dough made with 200 grams of flour with 2 eggs will yield approximately 250 grams (about a half-pound) of dough. It will vary depending on egg sizes and how much extra flour you may add.

Please read my articles on Spoja Lorda and Lasagna with Mushrooms, Ham, and Bèchamel to see more recipes using fresh egg pasta from Emilia-Romagna. You can see how to make the dough, knead it, and roll it out. To make the noodles, roll out your dough to the second or last setting and cut the tagliatelle by hand into noodles 5-8 mm wide or use your pasta attachment to cut the noodles. If you are going for Bolognese style tagliatelle, the pasta needs to be super thin.

Lastly

The prosciutto should be sliced on the thick side, around 3-4 mm. That makes a prosciutto heel/end perfect for this recipe. It usually costs about half the price of the thinly sliced prosciutto and you can save some bucks that way. FYI. Also, please keep in mind that there are no substitutes for Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or imported prosciutto, preferably from Parma but the variety from San Daniele is also a phenomenal product.

Now, to the recipe for Tagliatelle al Prosciutto. Happy cooking!

If you are interested in learning about Ragù Bolognese, an iconic meat sauce that is typically served on tagliatelle, click here for my article.

Tagliatelle al Prosciutto

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Serves: 2-3

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 4.5/5

( 6 voted )

Ingredients

• 200 grams (7 oz) fresh tagliatelle
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) Prosciutto di Parma, sliced 3-4 mm thick
• 1 small minced shallot or 2-3 tablespoons, minced onion, optional
• 3-4 tablespoons butter, or more to taste
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, to taste
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Place a large pot of water to the boil.
2. Meanwhile, cut the fat off of the prosciutto and mince finely. Cut the rest of the prosciutto into 3 mm x 5 mm rectangles.
3. In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over low heat and add the pork fat and shallot, if using. Cook for 6-7 minutes, until the fat renders and shallot is nice and tender.
4. Next, add the prosciutto, raise the heat to medium-low and cook slowly, stirring often, until it becomes very lightly browned about 5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.
5. Boil the tagliatelle until almost done. Scoop the noodles into the sauce and turn the heat to medium-low, tossing gently to combine the pasta with the sauce. Add enough pasta water to make the noodles fluid, about ½ cup, adding more as necessary, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add another 1-2 tablespoons of butter, stir to melt and turn off the heat.
6. Stir in some of the grated cheese, stir gently to melt and serve with more grated cheese on the side and top with freshly cracked black pepper if desired.