A use for leftover Charcuterie meats.
After making my charcuterie board on our girl’s trip to Waco, there was quite a bit of meat left over and I just threw it in the freezer when I got home thinking I might use if for our snack one night while having our “front porch cocktails”. Then recently when I was at Cost Plus World Market I bought several of their pastas. Ya know, buying different pastas is my weakness. Well, they had a giant fussily pasta that I thought would go perfect with my baby (the size of your little finger) zucchini that I picked up at Trader Joe’s. And the results were amazing.
I’m only using the prosciutto and the pancetta out of the meats. I wasn’t sure how frying and browning salami would work and I knew I wouldn’t like the mortadella. When I make this again I will have the pancetta sliced a little thicker so I can cube it and then cut the pancetta thin and in threads.
I have a hard time coming home from working 6-7 hours at the brewery and wanting to come up with something to cook for dinner. On this recent trip I came back with 9 bags of pasta and decided that the pasta would be my go to meal when I’m tired. Even if it’s using a jarred sauce or throwing in whatever vegetables I happen to have in the freezer or refrigerator, using one of my fancy pastas will make it seem special.
Some of my future post using my pastas will probably be a good Marinara, Cacio e Pepe, Vodka, maybe a good roasted garlic sauce, or a walnut pasta sauce. I can’t wait to use my pasta that looks like rings of calamari and come up with a sauce for pasta. I didn’t really have a recipe for this; just started throwing things together.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Getting ready for soup season? My Egg Flower Soup would make a perfect light luncheon soup and those cute little corn flowers are the cutest ever.
Aren’t those the cutest baby zucchinis? You can do this without the prosciutto for a meatless entree.
Giant Pasta with Baby Zucchini
Ingredients
- 1 pkg. your favorite pasta shape
- 5-6 baby zucchini or 1 large sliced thin
- 1 c. sliced leeks
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 lb. or more prosciutto or pancetta sliced thin*
- olive oil
- 1/2 c. parmesan cheese
Instructions
-
If using baby zucchini slice in half. If using regular zucchini, slice in thin slices. Brown the prosciutto or pancetta (or both) until brown and crispy. Remove to paper towel to drain.
-
Put a couple tablespoons olive oil in skillet (I sometimes use half butter half olive oil) and saute the leeks and garlic until the leeks are almost translucent. Remove from skillet and then add a little more oil/butter; brown the zucchini on cut side only (if baby zucchini) and other zucchini brown just on either side. Only cook until brown because you don't want the zucchini to get soft.
-
Bring large pot water to a boil and add some salt. Cook the pasta per package direction. Drain pasta, saving at least 1 cup of the pasta water to use if needed to make a sauce. Put the pasta in the skillet that you cooked the zucchini and prosciutto in and add in the zucchini, the crispy meat, and parmesan cheese. Pour in some of the pasta water and stir to make a sauce.
Recipe Notes
*The pancetta can be sliced thicker than the prosciutto and then cut in thin strips before frying.
No Comments