Farfalle with Salsa Cruda - David's favorite

I bought a huge packet of prosciutto from Costco because it was super cheap. But unless you use all of it, it's not exactly value for money, is it? David used prosciutto on his sandwiches and I made a "chicken wrapped in Prosciutto" dish. I also bought it because it's the main ingredient for one of David's favorite mid-week dinners.

Farfalle with Salsa Cruda is a fancy name for just a pasta dish. It has quite a few ingredients for a mid-week dinner, but it's worth it. One of the main ingredients, tomatoes, needs to be chopped coarsely (or diced). For 1.5 lbs of tomatoes cutting takes a long time. 

As I've said before here, I like to cut time, and someone once bought me a Williams-Sonoma vegetable chopper. I don't normally buy over-priced bits of plastic to clutter up the kitchen, but I LOVE THIS! It's awesome. You just cut your tomato in two and place it in the device. Shut the lid and you instantly have diced tomatoes. It's so cool! 

Here's the recipe;

Tomatoes, 1.5 lbs cored and diced

Garlic, 2 cloves, minced

Fresh Basil, 1/2 a cup, slivered

Olive Oil, 1/2 cup

Balsamic Vinegar, 3 tablespoons

Red Pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon

Mozzarella cheese, 1/2 lb cubed

Pine nuts, 1/4 cup

Salt & Pepper

Farfalle, 1 lb

Prosciutto, 2 oz, chopped

1. In a large bowl combine the tomatoes, garlic, basil, oil, vinegar, and red pepper flakes. Stir well and let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes to blend the flavors. Stir in the mozzarella and let stand for about 10 minutes longer.  

2. Meanwhile, in a small, dry frying pan over a medium-high heat, toast the pine nuts, stirring often, until fragrant and pale golden, 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside. (Be careful - I often burn them!)

3. At the same time cook the pasta as per directions on the packet! Drain well and add the pasta to the sauce, along with the prosciutto and pine nuts. Toss to combine and slightly soften the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Comments

[E.]

Welcome back.

Does this chopper work well on other fruit/veg?

[Emma]

Yes...I usually only use it for lots of tomatoes, but apparently it does slices of stuff too. Fruits and veg!

[E.]

I have to tell you. I bought the W&S chopper! Oh the power of word of mouth marketing! Will got it for his birthday and has used a couple of times. Seems good...