thrifty and quick: bowtie pasta with prosciutto & peas

First off, I want to thank everyone who came out to the craft fair on Sunday. Sure, I’m aware of how many people read my blog thanks to stats counters, but seeing so many of you come out for a visit was amazing. Thank you! But now, onto the food! I made this as a super quick lunch idea. I had half a package of pasta, some frozen peas, a tiny chunk of prosciutto and some parmesan and before I knew it, I had 2 large heaping bowls of food ready for my husband and I. It was delicious and deceptively simple to prepare. It also cost next to nothing.

I never really breakdown food costs, but I can imagine this meal costing about $1.50 in total for both bowls. I’m the first to admit that math isn’t my strong suit, but here’s how I came to that figure. Ages ago, I bought a wedge of organic parmesan for $8 and I used my fingers to specify how much I wanted to the old Italian guy at the counter and still am grating away at it. Really, I have no idea if I grated 25 cents worth of parmesan onto my pasta, but it seems about right! I bought the prosciutto as a “meat end” at the deli counter and it was a small hunk priced at $1. I was able to use that peice of meat for 4 meals, so that’s another quarter right there. Organic pasta is $1.50 a bag at my local grocer, so half that is easy to figure out. As for the peas and half n’ half, it’s a wild guess. The 750 g bag cost $3 so my handful of peas probably works out to mere nickles and I can’t even remember how much my 1L container of half and half cost me. I know this $1.50 cost breakdown is pretty crunky! I’m no math wiz so you’ll just have to get by with my less than shoddy accounting.

But really, who wants numbers anyway, this is lunch! And it’s a delicious one at that. Cornelius was bummed that he couldn’t have seconds (and truth be told, so was I). It was quick, it was tasty and it was budget concious. Yum.

23 comments to “thrifty and quick: bowtie pasta with prosciutto & peas”

  1. 1
    VeggieGirl   October 1, 2008 at 9:17 am

    Wish I could have attended the craft fair!!

    Hooray for quick, delicious meals!!

  2. 2
    Miss Kate   October 1, 2008 at 9:34 am

    wow! tasty and quick!

    Parmesan makes anything taste wonderful.

  3. 3
    Kristen   October 1, 2008 at 9:37 am

    Lick bowls if necessary.

    Is it ever not? 😉

  4. 4
    alice   October 1, 2008 at 10:41 am

    it was awesome meeting you at the craft fair! (i’m the girl who talked with you about nigella, food processors, and the wonders of mandolines for dicing onions). of course you have loads of fans! i’ll be sure to make this soon, but subbing in some pancetta, which I have kicking around in the fridge.

  5. 5
    kickpleat   October 1, 2008 at 1:54 pm

    thanks veggiegirl! it was fun and pretty well attended 🙂

    thanks miss kate, i agree!

    uh, totally kristen 😉

    alice, thanks for coming out! of course i remember you. hey it might have even been pancetta since it was unmarked except for the phrase “meat ends” and i can never tell the difference. horrible, i know!

    hag, i bought it from santa barbara on the drive.

  6. 6
    Bijoux   October 1, 2008 at 6:43 pm

    I wanted to drop by the craft fair and say ‘hello’ but…you know…distance is a big factor LOL

    Bowties are one of my favourite pasta shapes…and orecchiette too! Yum!!

  7. 7
    hag   October 1, 2008 at 1:21 pm

    I love prosciutto and peas… thanks frot he reminder. BTW where do you get your prosciutto?

  8. 8
    Rachel Catriona   October 1, 2008 at 9:42 pm

    Great meeting you at the craft fair! Love my cards too.

    This is an inspiring pasta. Looks fast, cheap and delicious. I’ll have to remember this when I stumped with very little in the fridge.

  9. 9
    PaniniKathy   October 1, 2008 at 10:18 pm

    This sounds really delicious! I’ve made a similar dish with brussels sprouts, which is also good. So nice and easy for a weeknight.

  10. 10
    Mari   October 1, 2008 at 11:52 pm

    Once upon a time the only veg I didn’t like was peas. I liked things like brussels sprouts and cauliflower, but not peas. Then I met a boy who will eat nothing in the Brassica family, but loves his peas and I grew to love them too. Now there is no vegetable and don’t like, although my boy still likes very few…LOL! Long story short, prosciutto and peas are a match made in heaven.

  11. 11
    Dawn   October 2, 2008 at 6:41 am

    Comfort food in a bowl. I love this, and what I love even more is that it’s fast and cheap.

  12. 12
    dynagrrl   October 2, 2008 at 5:33 pm

    That looks amazing. I have made a few of your pasta meals and am really enjoying it…

  13. 13
    kickpleat   October 3, 2008 at 7:51 am

    bijoux, i love bowtie pasta!

    thanks for coming to the fair, rachel! it was great meeting you too!

    paninikathy, mmmm brussles sprouts! yum. sounds delicious!

    it’s okay to be a veggie monster, cupcake!

    it is total comfort food, dawn.

    thanks dynagrrl!

  14. 14
    Haley   October 3, 2008 at 9:17 am

    delicious pasta for under $2? sign me up for some of that!

    we would like to feature your pasta on our blog! if interested email [email protected] Thanks!

  15. 15
    george froehlich   October 3, 2008 at 4:08 pm

    This is one great site. The recipes are amazing and there is always something there to surprise you. I have written about this blog and my readers have responsed in a major way wanting the name of the site because of the recipes.

  16. 16
    Nicole   October 4, 2008 at 2:09 pm

    Yum! This is the kind of lunch I could eat every day!

  17. 17
    Sara   October 5, 2008 at 9:01 pm

    I love simple recipes like this, peas and prosciutto are great together.

  18. 18
    kickpleat   October 5, 2008 at 10:19 pm

    haley, go ahead! thanks 🙂

    thanks george!

    me too, nicole!

    sara, i completely agree.

  19. 19
    La   October 11, 2008 at 12:25 am

    I made this the other day and it was yummmmy! (But I followed your hint and made enough to have for lunch the next day.)

    Thanks a bunch for all your wonderful ideas. 🙂

  20. 20
    Rachel   October 25, 2008 at 4:00 pm

    Made this for dinner tonight….loved it 🙂

  21. 21
    momma   December 31, 2008 at 1:02 pm

    i did a google search for prosciutto and brought up your post. this recipe is just what i like – inexpensive, fast, and simple!! we will be trying this soon!!!

  22. 22
    Rebecca   May 18, 2010 at 10:10 pm

    Delicious! I used an entire package of prosciutto and 3 tablespoons of parmesean and ADORED this recipe! So easy. So tasty.

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