Pasta al Baffo
Ingredients
4 servings
For the pasta
- Short pasta (penne, fusilli, maccheroni) 350 g
- Water for cooking the pasta 3.5 l
- Salt for cooking the pasta 18 g (5 g per 1 l of water, as the ham in the sauce is salty)
For the sauce
- Lean cooked ham 250 g
- Heavy cream (30-33%) 200 ml
- Tomato paste 50 g
- Olive oil 2 tbsp
- Salt, black pepper optional
To serve
- Parsley optional
Step-by-step recipe
How to cook the pasta
Given how simple the sauce is, pasta al baffo takes only as long as it takes to cook dry pasta. For the sauce, buy lean cooked ham, either in a piece or as ready-sliced thin cuts. You also need heavy cream with 30-33% fat. Do not use milk or lighter cream, as the sauce will separate easily. In principle, you can use tomato pulp instead of tomato paste, but paste is easier to find. Whether to add salt and spices is entirely up to your taste.
Cook the pasta. Bring 3.5 l of water with 18 g of salt to a boil in a pot (5 g per 1 l of water: the ham is salty, so use less salt than usual) and cook the pasta while the sauce is being made, until done according to the time on the package.
Penne is most often used in dishes like this, though absolutely any short pasta will work, including smooth-surfaced kinds.
How to make the sauce
Fry the ham. If the ham is in a piece, slice it thinly. Cut ready-sliced ham into strips. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and let it warm for 1-2 mins. Then fry the ham in the oil until lightly golden, 2-3 mins at most. Stir the meat while frying so it heats and browns evenly.
Add the cream and tomato paste to the ham. The cream is quite thick, and it may seem that you should add water. You do not need water; you may later have to add a little of the pasta cooking water to the finished sauce. Stir the cream so it spreads evenly, add the tomato paste and stir again. I did not add salt and black pepper, although they are often recommended. It is all up to your taste.
Reduce the heat under the pan to below medium and simmer the sauce, stirring, for 6-8 mins. The sauce will take on a pleasant orange tint. If the sauce seems too thick, add 1-2 tbsp of water from the pot the pasta is cooking in.
Drain the cooked pasta in a colander to let the water run off and toss it thoroughly with the finished sauce so they combine well. The glossy cream and tomato sauce clings to the pasta very well: the pasta al baffo ends up evenly coated with sauce, with no gaps, and does not run off.
Serving
Divide the finished dish among plates and serve right away for breakfast. If you like, sprinkle with finely chopped parsley. The pasta should be hot, because as it cools the sauce thickens and looks like melted cheese that has set.
Whether or not you have a mustache, after breakfast you may feel like licking your lips. Don’t hold back.
Calories and macros
595 kcal
Serving ≈ 310 g
- Protein24 g17% of kcal
- Fat23 g36% of kcal
- Carbs68 g47% of kcal
100 g191 kcalProtein 7.6 gFat 7.5 gCarbs 21.7 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.