you have *got* to try this pasta

A few weeks ago, when I was charring oranges and Meyer lemons for a citrus compote to go inside one of my wedding cakes, my nose swooned at the smell of citrus rind meeting heat. For days afterward, I couldn’t stop trying to recall that particular aroma, and I began to daydream about ways to cook citrus and incorporate it into savory dishes. I knew I needed salt, and maybe a nutty component, too — and after a few days of musing, the basis for this recipe was born.

I’m biased, but I love it, and Jesse told me tonight, after eating this pasta for dinner multiple times in the past week, that he’d like to eat a vat of it. So … try it out. Get a vat. Enjoy.

orecchiette with prosciutto, broccolini and orange

active time: 20 minutes

total time: 30 minutes

serves: 4

It’s been warm in D.C. lately, but mentally, I’m ready for winter cooking — and this pasta represents a decent compromise. It’s slightly too heavy for summer, but it’s not quite a meatball or a braise or any of the other dishes I immediately default to once it gets truly chilly outside.

It’s also a study in contrasts. It’s a little sweet from the orange and plenty salty from the prosciutto. It’s green, but it’s also creamy. It’ll fill you up, but it won’t weigh you down. It’s also proof there’s nothing citrus can’t do.

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and add 12 ounces of orecchiette. Cook until the pasta is al dente, according to the directions on the packaging; I tend to find about 10 minutes does the trick.

2. While the pasta cooks, cut 2 ounces of prosciutto into ¼-inch-wide strips. Set it aside. Next, trim the woody stalks from a bunch of broccolini (about 6-8 stalks will do the trick). You want to end up with about 5 ounces of trimmed broccolini.

3. Grate the zest from 1 orange, and slice the orange in half.

4. Just before the pasta is ready, reserve ½ of a cup of pasta water.

5. After you’ve drained the pasta, leave it in the colander. It’s time to make the sauce.

6. In a large Dutch oven, heat two tablespoons of butter over medium heat until it’s melted. Add the broccolini and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the broccolini is bright green and a few pieces are beginning to brown. Push all the broccolini into a pile on one side of the Dutch oven and add the prosciutto, moving the pieces around occasionally so they all begin to brown. Cook the prosciutto for 3 minutes, and then incorporate the broccolini so everything is evenly distributed. Reduce the heat to low.

7. Pour ½ of a cup plus 2 tablespoons of heavy cream into a liquid measure. Add half the reserved pasta water (¼ of a cup) to temper the cream, and then add the liquid to the Dutch oven with the prosciutto and broccolini.

8. Squeeze the juice from both orange halves into the sauce, and add the orange zest. Add ½ of a teaspoon of ground pepper and ¼ of a teaspoon of nutmeg, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Add the pasta and stir to incorporate.

9. If the sauce feels thick, add a bit more pasta water.

10. Add ⅓ of a cup of freshly grated Parmesan to the pasta and stir rapidly to melt and incorporate it into the sauce. Cook the pasta for 2 additional minutes and serve.

Notes: I tend to discard nearly all the broccolini stalk and leave mostly florets. I just find it too stiff and woody. Also, there’s no need to separate your prosciutto slices before you add them to the Dutch oven; the pieces will naturally separate as they cook.