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Do you have a favorite pasta shape? For me it’s sort of a toss-up between angel hair and bowties. I love angel hair for the how delicate the pasta is and how easy it is to eat, and bowties because, well, they’re so cute.
Is that even a valid reason for liking a pasta shape? They are cute! They make any pasta dish look just a little bit fancy, like the pasta got all dressed up for a show. And each one is a perfect forkful size.
For this bowtie pasta dish, I started with a classic—bowties with peas and prosciutto—but ditched the cream sauce that usually accompanies this dish. Instead, I lightened it up a bit by tossing everything with olive oil, black pepper, and Parmesan and added fresh baby arugula for some peppery greens.
Wow! Prosciutto, arugula, peas, parm, pasta, pepper? Perfect! So good together.
It’s quick! It takes about as long to cook as it does to bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta. 30 minutes tops. Enjoy!
Bowtie Pasta with Peas, Prosciutto, and Arugula Recipe
Prep the ingredients while the pasta water is heating to save time.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound (8 ounces) farfalle bowtie pasta
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided, 1 Tbsp and 2 Tbsp)
- 2 ounces prosciutto, thin slices separated and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
- 1 large handful baby arugula (about a cup and a half, packed)
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
Method
1 Add pasta to boiling water to cook: Put 3 quarts of salted water (1/2 Tbsp of salt for every quart of water) onto a boil. Add the farfalle bowtie pasta and cook until al dente.
2 Gently cook prosciutto: Coat the bottom of a stick-free pan with 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Lay out the pieces of prosciutto in the pan in a single layer. Put the heat on medium and gently cook while the pasta is cooking.
Turn the pieces over after a few minutes.
The intension is not to crisp, but to render some of the fat and firm up the prosciutto a little. When this has been accomplished, remove the pan from heat.
3 Set aside some pasta cooking water, add peas to pasta and cook an additional minute: Once the pasta has been cooking for the correct timing for al dente, remove one cup of pasta cooking water from the pan and set aside.
Add the peas and cook a minute more.
4 Add pasta, peas, Parmesan, black pepper to prosciutto, then add mint and arugula: Strain the pasta and peas and add to the pan with the prosciutto. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss to coat. Add the black pepper.
Add 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Add the fresh baby arugula and mint and toss with the hot pasta to wilt the arugula.
Add more of the pasta water if the pasta seems dry.
5 Drizzle with olive oil: Drizzle and toss with 2 Tbsp of olive oil to serve.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Bowtie Pasta with Peas, Prosciutto, and Arugula
Elisa, I making this tomorrow to take the following day to a potluck lunch. Therefore, I’m going to serve it at room temp, like a pasta salad. What would you suggest as an acid to add a little gusto? I’m thinking just olive oil might be too bland. Lemon juice? White wine vinegar? Suggestions? Thanks!
We used orecchiette pasta, because we had it. The peas were very cute, nestling in the little hollows in the pasta.
My wife doesn’t like mint, so I used fresh basil. Just as aromatic, but in a different direction. It was tasty.
I’m so glad you liked it Walter, and good to know it works with basil too.
Made this tonight and it was delicious – and SO easy. Like seriously, I didn’t know I was capable of this kind of delicious-to-effort ratio.
I subbed pancetta for prosciutto because that’s what was on hand and it worked just fine. Thought about skipping the mint but bought some and was really glad I did – didn’t add a “minty” flavor at all, just some extra brightness. Will absolutely be making again.
I’m so glad you made it Bex! And pancetta is a perfect substitution.
Elise, I made this with ham (crisped it a bit in a pan). It was great the first night, but I almost enjoyed it more as a cold pasta salad out of the fridge! Delicious!
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Hi Emily, great! Yeah, it’s pretty good cold too, isn’t it?
I’m really excited to try this! Making this for a friend for dinner who loves a light cheese flavor, but hates creamy pastas – this will be perfect.