How do the following ingredients sound to you – sugar snap peas, endive, prosciutto and gorgonzola cheese, along with caramelized red onion and sliced garlic? Those were the ingredients I decided I’d mix together to make a spring pasta dish. I opened a bag of sugar snap peas to have with my lunch today, which made me think about using them in a pasta dish. My daughter is in L.A. today with her friend and family, so I knew she wouldn’t be home for dinner. Dennis has his men’s softball game tonight, which means he won’t eat more than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before his game. This gave me the freedom to make myself something for dinner that they may not love as much as I do. Quite honestly, I was kind of looking forward to a little “me” time this evening … time when I have the house to myself. There’s a little something about a quiet evening, with the whole place to just me – and Remington.

Several years ago, my friend and neighbor, Laura, served an appetizer that was so elegant … but also quite simple. It was a platter of endive leaves with a dollop of gorgonzola cheese on the end. It was so tasty. I was remembering back to that night while I was at the market today and looking at the package of endive, I decided I’d add that to my pasta, along with gorgonzola.

I started by cooking prosciutto in a tablespoon of olive oil, in a large skillet, until it was starting to crisp. I used a 4 ounce package of prosciutto that I had cut into strips.

Once it started crisping up, I removed it from the pan onto a plate. I then added another tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet, along with a red onion that I had sliced into 1/2 rounds.

Once the onion had started to caramelize, I added the sliced endive and a sprinkling of kosher salt and pepper to my pan and sautéd it for a couple minutes before adding 5 cloves of sliced garlic.

I sliced most of an entire package of sugar snap peas (what I didn’t already eat for lunch) on the diagonal and added them to the pan, with 1/3 cup of olive oil.

I sautéd the sugar snap peas for just about 2 minutes. I wanted them to be crisp tender for this dish … not too soft.

I then added the cooked prosciutto back to the skillet and tossed it with the sugar snap peas, endives, onion and garlic.

Once the angel hair pasta had finished cooking, I transferred it directly into my skillet and tossed it together with the “sauce”.

Prosciutto is pretty salty on it’s own, so I did not add much salt to this dish. Just a teaspoon to the endive before I sautéd it, along with a teaspoon of pepper.

When I plated the dish, I added a few small dollops of gorgonzola cheese. Wow!!! I loved this dish, it was fabulous!! I think I experienced a bit of Heaven tonight.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces angel hair pasta
• 1 red onion, sliced into half rounds
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 bunches endive, sliced thickly
• 4 ounce package prosciutto
• gorgonzola cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil (1 for sautéing onion and another 1-2 when you add the endive)
• 1/2 cup olive oil (add when you add the sugar snap peas)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and add prosciutto, cooking for 2-3 minutes, until it starts to get crispy. Remove to a plate.
3. Add another 1-2 tablespoons to skillet and cook red onion until it starts to caramelize. Add endive, salt and pepper, and cook for a few minutes. Add garlic and cook for 45 seconds.
4. Add 1/2 cup olive oil to the pan. Place sugar snap peas into skillet and sauté for 2-3 minutes, just until crisp tender. Turn off heat.
5. Add cooked pasta directly to skillet and toss together.
6. Serve with gorgonzola cheese.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris