Hot and Spicy Pasta

Hot and Spicy Pasta

16 shallots, sliced very thin
¼ c. olive oil
8 ozs. prosciutto, thin sliced julienne
1 head garlic, roasted
2 qts. whole tomatoes, cut up, undrained
2 t. red pepper flakes
1 lb. bow tie pasta, cooked
1 c. grated parmesan
2 c. basil, chiffonade

Saute shallots, garlic and prosciutto in oil until lightly browned. Add tomatoes and flakes and reduce by half. Finish sauce with basil and parm off the fire and toss with pasta. Check for seasoning.

Now, looking at this recipe (straight from my culinary school recipe book), it may not be terribly clear. 16 shallots seem like a lot but in school they were small and if the store has big ones, you can cut that by half. Of course, you can cut this whole recipe in half but I do the opposite! To roast garlic, just take a head of garlic and cut off the non root side to expose a bit of garlic from the bulb. Rub it with olive oil and wrap in foil and stick it in the oven for a half hour or so on about 350º). When it cools down you can just squeeze the garlic out. You can do a bunch of this on a slow day and keep it in the refrig. Julienne is just thin strips of thin prosciutto. Chiffonade is kinda like ribbons of basil. Take the leaves, roll the up together and then thin slice the roll.