Shrimp & Prosciutto Pasta

We had some leftover imported prosciutto from our New Year’s party last night and I wanted to find something creative to do with it. I instantly thought pasta as I figured my husband would want something with carbs and oil. When I searched the web for shrimp and prosciutto I stumbled upon this recipe. I had all the ingredients below in the house already so I knew I could tweak this recipe and create something spectacular. I did just that. It was a perfect balance of all things good! If you are a vegetarian and only eat fish, you can use this same recipe and do the prosciutto in a separate pan for other guests.

Ingredients:

4 slices of imported prosciutto, found at our local Claro’s Italian Market

2 tablespoons, extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (leave this out if you don't like spicy) Add more if you like it VERY spicy. 1/2 tsp is perfect!

½ cup dry Chardonnay wine or any dry white wine

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ cup Roma tomatoes or sliced cherry tomatoes, seeded and diced

Zest of 1 lemon, roughly 1 teaspoon

Kosher Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

½ pound dry linguine or angel hair pasta noodles

Optional: chopped fresh parsley and freshly grated Romano cheese

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil for cooking the pasta

In a large skillet on medium-high heat, add the prosciutto and cook until crispy about 3 minutes

Place the prosciutto in a bowl on a napkin to soak up the oil

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet along with the garlic and red pepper flakes cooking for 2 minutes

Add in the shrimp and cook until they are pink and nearly done; about 4 minutes; remove shrimp into separate bowl

Add the white wine and lemon juice to the skillet and cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes on medium-high heat

Add in the tomatoes, lemon zest, salt, and pepper and cook for one minute

Return shrimp to the skillet and until firm; additional minute or two

Cook & drain your pasta, this can be done in sync with the prosciutto and shrimp if you can multitask

Toss the noodles into the skillet and add in your fresh parsley if you would like to add a little color

Divide the shrimp and pasta into serving plates and top with the crispy prosciutto

You can drizzle a little more olive oil on top of each dish if you wish as well as freshly grated Romano cheese or Parmesan cheese

Simply Heaven!

Inspired by:

http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/1134104-SHRIMP-SCAMPI-WITH-PROSCIUTTO-PASTA?full_recipe=true