Spaghetti Con Speck e Pangrattato

Tagliatelle Con Speck e Pangrattato
Adapted from Cucina Italiana, January/February 2008

Prep/Cook time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
8 oz/250g Tagliatelle (whatever your long twirly pasta you love)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1-2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2oz/55g Speck (or, since I couldn’t find any…Serrano ham or Prosciutto) cut in small cubes
½ tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
½ tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
6 tbsp Panko bread crumbs
Salt & pepper to taste
Coarsely grated Parmigiano Reggiano (optional at serving)

Directions:
It really doesn’t take very long to put this together so have the water boiling and all the ingredients ready before you actually start the “sauce” which takes about 10 minutes start to finish.

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 3 tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted add the onion and sauté until the onion is soft and golden (slightly caramelized – about 7-8 minutes).

2. Add the garlic, ham/speck and herbs and continue to sauté for another 3 minutes or until the fragrance has you drooling. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

3. In the same pan, melt the last tbsp of butter and add the bread crumbs. Lightly brown and add the onion mixture back to the pan just to heat through. Keep this “sauce” warm while you drain the pasta. (The sauce is very dry, so if you like it a little wetter, reserve about ½ cup of the pasta water to add to the finished dish).

4. In the meantime, cook the pasta in boiling water with 1 tbsp salt. It should be al dente and drain. The artisan pasta I chose only took 4 minutes to cook, so I basically added the pasta to the water when the onion mixture was cooked.

5. Transfer the drained pasta to a large serving bowl. Add the “sauce” and toss. If it’s too dry, add a little pasta water.

Sprinkle with some chopped parsley and a little grated cheese and serve hot.