Penne with Prosciutto, Tomatoes and Zucchini

This Penne with Prosciutto, Tomatoes and Zucchini can be on your dinner table in 30 minutes. Crispy bits of prosciutto, zucchini and blistered cherry tomatoes is what makes this penne incredibly delicious.

Do you ever have those recipes where you absolutely cannot wait to make and bite into? This was it for me, saw this on the cover of Cooking Light magazine and I was hooked. I loved the simplicity of it and of course the ingredients. Summer is almost here so you know I’ll be taking advantage of zucchini and cherry tomatoes. But in my eyes the star of this dish really is the crispy prosciutto.

You see, how great is this dish loaded with zucchini and tomatoes. I heard somewhere once that if you want to make simple healthy changes in your diet while not giving up the things you love the most, pasta being one of those things for me, you can make small changes like take half the pasta you would normally eat and replace it with vegetables, in this instance zucchini and tomatoes.

While I still love my pasta in meaty sauces and laden with cheese, I have to say that this dish really did it for me. It’s simply bursting with flavor, the cherry tomatoes and balsamic vinegar absolutely brightens the whole dish up, and the prosciutto really worked here, it gave this dish that extra edge and all you need is a bit of Parmesan cheese, because let’s face it, pasta without cheese is really boring so let’s not even go there.

I’m actually putting this dish into the “mind was blown” category, that’s how much I loved it! And all for 314 calories a serving, totally blows my mind. If you wanted to you could use a whole wheat pasta, or a gluten free pasta for the GF version. Remember how I always tell you that hubs and I don’t usually do leftovers, well I couldn’t wait to eat the leftovers here. I actually said no to going to a restaurant for dinner one night, just so I could come home and finish my pasta. Yeah!

If you guys love this recipe, and most importantly make it yourselves, please let us know. Take a picture and tag it #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!

4.67 from 3 votes

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Penne with Prosciutto, Tomatoes and Zucchini

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

This Penne with Prosciutto, Tomatoes and Zucchini can be on your dinner table in 30 minutes. Crispy bits of prosciutto, zucchini and blistered cherry tomatoes is what makes this penne incredibly delicious.

Servings: 4

Calories: 314 kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Ingredients

• 8 oz penne pasta
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 oz prosciutto roughly chopped
• 1 small onion chopped
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 medium zucchini quartered lenghtwise and sliced
• 10 oz cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 oz parmesan cheese grated
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped

Instructions

1. Cook the penne according to package directions and drain.
2. Meanwhile heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the prosciutto and cook for about 2 minutes or until crisp. Remove the prosciutto from the skillet and set aside.
3. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil to the skillet, chopped onion, garlic and red pepper flakes and stir. Cook for about 3 minutes or until the onion is tender.
4. Add the zucchini to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes then add the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes then remove from the heat.
5. Stir in the penne, balsamic vinegar, prosciutto, half of the Parmesan cheese and the parsley.
6. Divide into 4 bowls and garnish with the leftover Parmesan cheese.

Recipe Notes

This penne dish is great served both warm or cold.

 

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

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