Pasta with Peaches, Prosciutto and Arugula: Cooking in Italy

Pasta with Peaches, Prosciutto and Arugula is a fresh, healthy and delicious celebration of the flavors of Italy. Affiliate links were used in this post to link to items I am discussing.

I was torn about whether to post this–the dish was delicious, but the pictures not so much. I obviously did not have any of the props I use for plating, but more importantly I also did not have my camera. When traveling, John and I have always been big on the experience over recording the experience, although the latter is important, and we do not ever carry any kind of big camera. And I especially missed my tripod. All I had was my iPhone.

So if you are visiting my site for the first time, I promise I usually take better pictures!

We had a kitchen in Italy, but I did not cook much. Honestly, for my style of cooking, the lack of a pantry was just really difficult. The lack of spices was the big one, as well as the fact that all meals needed to be shopped for, thus requiring more time and effort.  We made 2 pasta tosses, of which I am sharing one, a salad that you can see in the collage, and a tomato and arugula frittata that you can see in the collage. That last one was nerve wracking, as I was not sure my pan was oven safe and I only had a metal spatula for serving the frittata from a nonstick pan. But it was this pasta toss that was the clear winner.

I’ve told you guys before about Kate Caldesi’s Wild Rosemary and Lemon Cake: A Collection of Italian Recipes from the Amalfi Coast–and I still recommend that cookbook so much if you have any interest in the cooking of southern Italy–and because of it I knew that lemons were a common ingredient in Italy. But I would never have guessed how common. For the rest of my life, lemons (which are in this dish, albeit unseen) and arugula will taste like Italy to me. And I cannot tell you how happy that makes me, after a lifetime of resisting red and whites sauces, which I do not love, to have found such quintessentially Italian ingredients to love.

Speaking of the arugula, serving the pasta on a bed of fresh arugula is not something that would ever have occurred to me before Italy. There was arugula everywhere there–and happily I love arugula. I loved it more cooked, in the frittata I made, and I loved it slightly wilted, in this dish. I loved it in the myriad salads that I ordered throughout Italy (salads were huge there and have given me so many ideas!!). It works beautifully in this dish–the peppery bitter of the arugula is tamed by the sweet onions, peaches and tomatoes and the sour lemon. The more I write about it, as a matter of fact, the more I think that someday soon I might have some better pictures to add to this post as I make it again!

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Pasta with Peaches, Prosciutto and Arugula

I was cooking in Italy, using Italian ingredients as they were available to me at that moment in time. Use your common sense for substitutions: if it is peach season, use ripe peaches. Any prosciutto crudo will work. Green onions and red or yellow onions together will substitute for the fresh dug red onions. Regular garlic for the barely cured garlic. Etcetera.

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Italian

Author: TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried trofie pasta, cooked to desired doneness
• 1-2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 3 small fresh dug red onions, thinly sliced
• 6 cloves young garlic, minced
• 2 T minced fresh thyme
• 4 small hard (underripe) peaches, thinly sliced
• 6 slices of prosciutto crudo, thinly sliced, I used prosciutto San Daniele
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup white wine (I used pino grigio)
• zest of 1 large lemon
• juice of 1 large lemon
• 2 inches of greens from the onions, chopped, or use green onions
• 1 T unsalted butter
• several handfuls cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half if large
• Arugula, 1-2 handfuls per serving

Instructions

1. Add the olive oil to a nonstick skillet and heat over medium high heat. When it is hot, add the onions with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the onions are beginning to caramelize. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes.
2. Add the peaches with another pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the prosciutto and stir, cooking for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the wine with the zest of the lemon. Bring to a boil and then reduce to maintain a brisk simmer. Simmer until most of the excess liquid is evaporated, about 5-10 minutes. Add a few grinds of fresh pepper. Add the cooked pasta, chopped green onions, butter and lemon juice and taste for additional salt.
4. Turn off the heat and add the tomatoes. Serve over a bed of fresh arugula.