Penne Rustica

Today was a special day. Not only was it Father’s Day for my 84-year old Dad, but we also celebrated my Mother’s 79th Birthday. And with my house finally on the market, I had time to prepare a proper meal.

I admit to putting in some extra effort on these occassions and the reason is simple: At my parents’ age, any one of these celebrations might be the last time I get to prepare a meal for them.

The recipe for Penne Rustica is this one from Recipezaar so I won’t repeat the whole thing here. Rather than bacon, I substituted proscuitto from the neighborhood italian deli. The proscuitto is nice and fresh and I can get it sliced thicker. (The vacuum-bagged stuff you find in the supermarket is sliced far too thin for frying.) I also put in extra proscuitto, shrimp, and cheese. The next time I make this though I am also going to cut back on the butter. Six ounces of butter is about twice what is needed.

It turned out pretty good, rivalling the Penne Rustica from Macaroni Grill. Definitely a keeper.