Last weekend I got my daily NYTimes-Email including several recipes. One recipe got my attention, as I have never heared before about „Penne al baffo“. I immediately looked for Italian recipes and found several recipes to my surprise. BUT I should point out that in these Italian versions, no one(!) used parmesan cheese. In the NYTimes version is tons of cheese used. I have to say after cooking the Italian version of this recipe, adding cheese to this dish ruins it heavily. The ham flavor is such sublime and the creaminess by the heavy cream makes it cozy.
Bottom-line, an utterly delicious dish for weekdays. And please use high-quality ham. Of course this recipe originated from the rich North-Italy, around Bologna I guess.
Finally, al baffo is an abbreviation of the expression ‘da leccarsi i baffi’ meaning ‘so good you’ll lick your whiskers’. It’s kind of the Italian equivalent of finger lickin’ good!
Ingredients
250g Penne
120g Prosciutto cotto or cooked ham, roughly cubed
100-150g heavy cream (32%)
1 shallot or Tropea onion, chopped
300-400g Tomato pelati or passata
parsley or chives, chopped
Preparation
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- First chopp the ham and shallot. I used a Tropea onion which is relatively sweet in flavor.
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Cook the shallot in olive oil until soft, but not dark brown
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Add the ham and cook for 2-3min. Not crisp like Guanciale/Pancetta or bacon you usually do.
- Now add the tomatoes and cook for around 10-15min. Meanwhile cook the pasta.
- Also add the cream after 15min and cook for another 5-10min. Optional you can also add a ladle of pasta cooking water or even more cream at the end.
- Add the cooked penne to the sauce and combine
- Finally drizzle with parsley or chives. Again, NO cheese.