Parmigiano-Crusted Penne Pasta with Garlic Olive Oil, Prosciutto, Cauliflower and Zucchini

This “baked” pasta dish is done mostly outside the oven and with shortcuts like boiling the pasta and vegetables together, you’ll be done before you know it. In fact, the total oven time is all of two minutes. Our garlic infused olive oil is used in the cream sauce as well as flavoring the crispy Parmigiano-panko topping. While cauliflower seems to make another starring role in this recipe the pasta and prosciutto are sure to play best supporting actors. You can use rigatoni or penne; we used whole wheat pasta. This is our adaptation of Melissa Rubel’s recipe from Food & Wine magazine.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 ½ tablespoons Olive This! Garlic Infused Olive Oil, divided
• 1 cup heavy cream
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ¾ pound penne or rigatoni pasta
• 1 small head of cauliflower, about 1 ½ lbs.
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 small yellow squash
• 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto cut into ½-inch wide by 2-inch long ribbons
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS

Put a large pot of salted water on high heat to boil. Preheat the broiler.

Cut the zucchini and yellow squash lengthwise into quarters and chop into ¼-inch slices. Cut cauliflower into 1-inch florets. Set aside. You can combine all chopped ingredients in a large bowl as they will be used together.

Make the cream sauce by putting 1 tablespoon of the garlic olive oil into a medium skillet. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the cream and simmer until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir often. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. About 6 minutes before the pasta is done, add the chopped vegetables to the pot to cook along with the pasta. Drain the pasta and vegetables together but reserve two tablespoons of the pasta cooking water.

While the pasta is cooking, toss the panko, Parmigiano and remaining 2 ½ tablespoons of garlic infused olive oil into a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and combine ingredients well.

Return the drained pasta and vegetables to the pot. Add the cream sauce, prosciutto, and reserved pasta water. Toss until all the ingredients are well coated.

Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle the panko-Parmigiano mixture evenly over the top. Broil for about two minutes just until the topping is evenly brown. Watch this carefully and rotate the dish often.

Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve immediately. Enjoy!

SERVES 6

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