Truth: I eat pasta about four times a week.
And why shouldn’t I? It’s fast, filling, easy, delicious, and cheap. Plus it’s a great way to use up stray items in the vegetable drawer and if I ever decide to become a marathon runner, I’ve already got the diet part of the training regime down.
This particular pasta started as a weeknight, use-up-ingredients-get-something-on-the-table-as-quickly-as-possible-before-I-go-crazy-with-hunger dinner, but has become a favorite combination of ingredients worth shopping for and worth sharing with you.
Shall we? Get the water on to boil, preheat the oven, and gather up the gang. Pasta, Prosciutto, and Parmigiano- an Italian P trifecta. Also, lots of Brussels sprouts, a couple egg yolks, and plenty of black pepper.
Bucatini is on the the bill tonight. Do you know Bucatini? Think really thick, hollow spaghetti. Bucatini is neck in neck with fusilli for the title of silliest pasta. The noodles dance and flop off your fork, making it virtually impossible to eat in a dignified manner. That’s okay. Get over your manners and slurp ’em up.
There’s nothing to this. Get the Brussels sprouts roasting. I pull off a couple outer layers of leaves and then cut the inner-sprout in half. The leaves will be crunchy, brown, and nutty and the sprout halves will be caramelized with just a little bite. Having them retain a little bite is very important. Mushy Brussels sprouts make people think they hate Brussels sprouts and we certainly don’t want that.
While the sprouts are off doing their thing, boil a pot of water and cook your Bucatini. Al dente. People like mushy pasta about as much as they like mushy Brussels sprouts. We’re going to sauce and finish the pasta in a big mixing bowl, so toss one in the oven so your pasta makes it to the table piping hot.
To sauce the pasta, I’m taking a page out of the alla carbonara playbook. The Bucatini gets thrown in the big, warm mixing bowl and tossed with our roasted Brussels sprouts, a couple egg yolks, and copious amounts of grated Parmesan. Add fresh black pepper until your grinding wrist is sore, artfully arrange some Prosciutto over the top, and dig in.
Good. Yum. I might have to up my pasta dosage to daily.
- ½# Bucatini Pasta (Fettucine or Linguine would work as well)
- 1# Brussels Sprouts
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 1 c. Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
- ¼# Prosciutto, very thinly sliced and cut in half lengthwise
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Black Pepper
- Salt
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Remove a few outer leaves of the Brussels sprouts. Cut the core of the sprouts in half. Toss halved cores with leaves, drizzle lightly with olive oil, and season with salt. Roast about 15 minutes until leaves are crisp and the Brussels sprouts have caramelized.
- Meanwhile, cook the Bucatini in boiling water.
- In a large, warm bowl, combine roasted Brussels sprouts with cooked Bucatini. Toss with egg yolks, Parmesan, abundant coarsely ground black pepper, and salt(if needed).
- Divide between warm pasta bowls and arrange Prosciutto over the top of each dish. Serve with additional cheese, if desired.
