Creamy fettuccine, laced with peas and crispy prosciutto, topped with a dollup of ricotta cheese and a delicious homemade cheese tuile; if Spring were a pasta, this Creamy Fettuccine with Prosciutto and Peas would be it.
What you’ll need to make this recipe
- fettuccine
- prosciutto
- garlic
- olive oil spray
- light butter
- reduced fat chicken broth
- lemon pepper seasoning
- fresh cracked pepper
- 2% milk
- peas
- part skim ricotta
- basil
- Pecorino Romano
How to make the creamy sauce
To make the sauce, we are going to start off by slicing the prosciutto and then sautéing it in a frying pan with some olive oil spray. Not only does this give us some nice crispy prosciutto to use as a topping later, but it also seasons the pan where we will eventually build the sauce and the rest of the pasta dish.
In the meantime, defrost the peas quickly by microwaving them. Also, mince up your garlic.
Once the prosciutto has cooked for about 5 minutes, remove it from the pan and set aside for later.
Next, it’s time to build the sauce. Start by adding more olive oil spray, and the minced garlic to the pan. Cook the garlic for just one minute or until it becomes fragrant. Then, add the butter, followed by the flour. This step is creating a roux, or a thickening agent for a cream sauce. Since we are using 2% milk in this recipe, we have to thicken it somehow, so that it acts like heavy cream- so this is how we do it.
Cook the roux for just a minute or so, and then add the broth, lemon pepper, fresh cracked pepper, and the milk. Whisk everything together, so that the flour doesn’t clump, and all of the components combine.
Cook this for about 10 minutes, or until it thickens and reduces.
Now, let’s wait for the pasta to cook.
Help! I don’t understand how to measure pasta!
Ok, this might be the most frequently asked question I get any time I show a pasta recipe! Here’s the low down. You can either weigh and measure pasta uncooked, or cooked.
- To weigh your pasta uncooked:
- This is the serving size as shown on the box. For instance, the box will show you that 2 oz of pasta is 200 calories. This represents the uncooked weight. For this recipe, 8 oz of uncooked pasta is required. This will serve four people.
- To weigh uncooked pasta, place a bowl on a kitchen scale, and zero it out (or press the “tare” button).
- Then, add pasta to the bowl until you see 8 oz displayed on the scale.
- If you measure your pasta cooked:
- This recipe requires half of a pound of pasta, or half of a box of pasta. You can eyeball that part.
- When it comes to serving, one serving size of this dish is 1/4 of the recipe.
- A suggested serving of pasta (2 oz uncooked) is one cup of cooked pasta.
- Since other ingredients are added into the pasta, it can be hard to determine the appropriate serving size of recipes.
- For this recipe, one heaping cup of cooked pasta and the sauce is the serving size.
Once the pasta is cooked for this recipe, I ladle it right into the cooked sauce, no colander or draining required. Save the pasta water to the side for later, in case you need to add it to the pasta later. Add the cooked peas to the pasta as well.
At this point, you can taste for seasoning and add salt, if you feel it needs it. Remember: the cheese tuile is salty, so use caution. The level of salt depends on whether your lemon pepper seasoning is salty or not; add salt by the 1/4 teaspoon, and check the taste each time.
How to make the cheese tuiles
This part is definitely optional, but I recommend it. It is SO easy to make these beautiful cheese tuiles, and they are only 1 WW point or 20 calories each. They add an extra level of crunch and salt to this dish, so I highly recommend it. They are gorgeous for presentation purposes also.
To make these, all you have to do is line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Preheat your oven to 400F.
Next, just place the cheese in 1 tablespoon portions on the baking sheet. Press down on them gently to flatten them out, and then bake them for about 4-5 minutes or until they are golden and melty.
Remove the tuiles carefully with an offset spatula and set aside to cool.
Putting it all together
To serve this beautiful dish, plate the pasta with the peas. On top of each serving, add a sprinkle of the crispy prosciutto, a dollup of the ricotta, and a cheese tuile, followed by a sprinkle of fresh basil.
Creamy Fettuccine with Prosciutto and Peas
Equipment
- frying pan
- large pot
- baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon mat
Ingredients
Pasta
- 8 oz fettuccine, weighed uncooked
- 4 slices prosciutto
- 3 cloves garlic
- olive oil spray
- 1 tbsp light butter
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
- fresh cracked pepper
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 1 cup peas, defrosted, if using frozen
- 1/4 cup part-skim ricotta
- basil, fresh, for garnish
Cheese Tuils
- 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, grated, can sub parmesan cheese
Instructions
Pasta Sauce
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat.
- Slice the prosciutto into ribbons.
- Add the prosciutto to the frying pan with olive oil spray.
- Cook for 5 minutes or until crispy; then remove the prosciutto from the pan using a slotted spoon, and set aside in a bowl.
- Mince the garlic.
- In the same pan, add more olive oil spray and the minced garlic, and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Add the butter and allow it to melt. Then, sprinkle the flour in.
- Whisk together so that the flour combines with the butter and clumps up.
- Next, add the broth and the milk and whisk together. Add the lemon pepper and fresh cracked pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, and then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Defrost the peas and stir them into the mixture.
Pasta
- Weigh out the pasta (uncooked).
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and cook the pasta according to package directions.
- Ladle the cooked pasta directly into the sauce. Reserve cooking liquid in case you need it later.
- Stir the mixture with the pasta over a low flame for a few minutes for the flavors to combine.
Cheese Tuiles
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper (or a silicon mat) on a baking sheet.
- Pour the cheese (one tablespoon at a time) onto the baking sheet in four small piles.
- Press down on each pile gently to flatten.
- Bake for 4-5 minutes or until golden and melted.
- Remove from the oven. Gently lift each cheese tuile from the baking sheet with an offset spatula and set aside to cool.
Putting it together
- Before assembling everything, taste the pasta for seasoning. It might require more salt, especially if your lemon pepper seasoning does not contain salt. Add salt by the 1/4 teaspoon and taste after each time, until you are satisfied by the salt level.
- If the pasta seems dry, add some of the starchy cooking liquid to the pan. If you are making this pasta but not serving immediately, definitely save the pasta water to bring it back to life.
- Plate the pasta; top each serving of pasta with the crispy prosciutto, 1 tablespoon of ricotta, a cheese tuile, and basil for garnish.
Notes
- Blue and Green Plans:
- 11 WW points (including cheese tuile)
- 10 WW points (excluding cheese tuile)
- Purple Plan (if you use whole wheat pasta):
- 6 WW points (including cheese tuile)
- 5 WW points (excluding cheese tuile)
Felicia Demsen says
Can this be made ahead of time?
Steph says
This dish is best when eaten right away, but I made it in the afternoon to serve for dinner. Save the starchy pasta water to the side to help bring it back to life.
Anna says
Just made this dish for dinner tonight and it’s absolutely delicious! All of the components together make this dish so tasty. I also love that I didn’t feel heavy and overly full from this recipe since it was lightened up but still full of flavor. Highly recommend!
Elizabeth says
Do you think it would work to substitute the milk with almond milk or another dairy free milk?
Mary Livolsi says
This was great. Don’t like peas so omitted them. Very tasty and yes the lemon pepper is necessary.
Rhonda says
Loved this recipe, big hit with the family!
Christine says
This recipe came out so good. My husband loved it too! Definitely making it again.
Adriane says
So good!
Emily says
My husband hates Peas–what do you think would be a good sub for them? Or just leave them out entirely? Can’t wait to make this!
Kathy says
Made this for my Easter dinner side yesterday! Delicious!
Ann says
I made this for dinner tonight.
Used lemon juice instead of seasoning and added a splash of white wine!
Excellent!!!!!
For sure will be a regular in our house!
Sara says
I really enjoyed this recipe. I made the mistake of using a tad bit to much pepper but the flavor of the dish was still great. My husband gives his ratings of new recipes much like Stef’s husband and got a it’s ok which means I have the all clear to make it again. 😊
Megan says
This was outstanding! We’re on Purple and used whole grain linguine and this felt like such a steal! I subbed parm for the ricotta and my husband and I both loved it. Definitely a make again and next time I’ll double the recipe. Thanks, Steph!
Elizabeth says
So good! Added some chicken on the side for protein, my husband loved it.
Brittany says
Another perfect recipe. The cheese flavor is amazing; it honestly feels like your eating a high calorie meal from a restaurant, but it’s not! Super simple to make as well.
Amanda says
Made this tonight and as usual, stephs recipes DO NOT DISAPPOINT!! Another amazing meal!!! Husband raved about it!! Thank you so much Steph! I am so thankful I found you and you’re recipes, you always make things super easy and delicious!! 5 stars from this happy household!
Carolyn says
So delicious! Great, easy recipe and my kids loved it. I even made it a bit ahead of time and reheated great. Thanks Stephanie!
Katie says
This was so so good! This is now going to be a recipe staple in our house!
Alisha says
This was freakin delicious!! Will definitely make it again, although I may try bacon next time just to see.
I live for your recipes Steph, you’re a goddess of the kitchen 🙂
Kaitlyn says
This recipe was fantastic! I can’t wait to try more of Stephanies recipes.
Amy Ruppert says
Loved this one! Again! Thank you so much for these wonderful recipes. Perfect amount of points too!
Debbie Ruby says
This was soo delicious! Hard to believe it wasn’t that high in ww points! Definitely a family favorite! We served it for Father’s Day along with some filet mignon. Yum!!
Stacey says
Huge hit! Will definitely be making this again soon.
Brittany says
I’ve made this twice already! It was a hit with the family. So easy and good!
Meg Clark says
Amazing, my whole family loved it!
Cathy says
Made this last night for my foodie sister, who was visiting, and we both loved it, as did my husband! I also made your baked shrimp scampi for more protein, and it was such a delicious and satisfying meal. We definitely did not feel like we were missing anything! Thanks for all you do to make healthy cooking so yummy!
Tara says
LOVED this!! Will definitely make again!
Beth Hardy says
This is very good! Very easy and honestly it tasted like something I’ve had in a good Italian restaurant, but I made it!