Recipes | Prosciutto, Peas & Pasta with Roasted Chicken in a Parmesan Cream Sauce

The key to fixing a great cream sauce (in my humble opinion) is to make it light and flavorful - not thick and goopie.  So, I use some wine, chicken broth and... pasta water, along with heavy cream and parmesan cheese.  The water from the pasta contains starch that will help thicken the sauce without having to add a large amount of cream and cheese.  

Prosciutto, Peas & Pasta (with Roasted Chicken in a Parmesan Cream Sauce)

1 pound of chicken

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

1 pound of fettucini  

1/4 pound of Prosciutto, sliced, then cut into 1 inch pieces

3 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup of white wine

1/3 cup of chicken broth

1/2 cup of cream

1/2 cup of pasta water

1 cup of frozen peas

1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Roast the chicken by placing it on a baking sheet and roasting it at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Let sit and chop into cubes.  Boil pasta and reserve 1/2 cup of the water from boiling.  

Cook prosciutto in a saute pan, then remove from the pan and set aside.  In that same pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the minced garlic.  Cook for 1 minute.  Deglaze the pan with wine, broth, cream and water from pasta.  Simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes - stirring.  Add peas.  If the sauce gets too thick, add more pasta water, broth or wine to thin it out.   

Add pasta to the thicken sauce,  along with the prosciutto, parmesan and chicken.  Toss together.  Add some black pepper on top for serving.