Turn a Peach Into a Sweet and Summery Pasta Sauce
One of my favorite summer meals is cucumber (or zucchini ) butter pasta. All you have to do is grate the oblong piece of the product, cook it with oil and mix with spaghetti along with starchy pasta water. It turns out you can sing and dance with ripe peaches and the results are amazing.
This sauce actually cooks faster than the cucumber (or zucchini) version. The peach releases water faster than any other vegetable, and a five-minute simmer with a little toasted butter is all it takes to turn the juicy chunks into a silky sauce that sticks to the noodles of your choice. Add a few pinches of pepper flakes and salt to taste and you have a sweet, salty, spicy and slightly nutty sauce. (I would add some basil if I had it. Unfortunately, I didn’t.)
Think about how pumpkin peanut butter pasta would taste if it took the summer holidays and it’s pretty close to the vibe. It’s fruity and sweet, but accentuated with brown butter and punctuated by hot pepper flakes. Place a slice or two of prosciutto on top and let dry to add meatiness. This recipe makes one serving per peach, but you can of course increase it as you wish.
Sweet and spicy peach pasta with prosciutto
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces dried pasta
- 1 ripe peach
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
- Salt to taste
- 2 slices prosciutto, torn into small pieces
- Optional: Fresh basil, torn or thinly sliced into ribbons.
Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil and cook until al dente (decrease the cooking time on the package by one minute). Reserve 1/2 cup water for pasta, then drain pasta and set aside.
On a coarse grater, grate the washed peach on a coarse grater to collect all the juice. Don’t worry about cleaning it first; a grater will separate it from the pulp. Melt the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat, then let it froth and brown until it’s dark amber and has a nice nutty flavor. Add the grated peach and all of its juice, reduce heat to low, and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add two tablespoons of pasta water to the pot and stir. Add pasta, stir and stir. Taste and salt if necessary. Transfer to a shallow bowl and add a couple of slices of torn prosciutto and some fresh basil if you have any.