Penne Pasta tossed with Beets, Beet Greens and Mint topped with Prosciutto

Recipe

Ingredients
1/4# sliced prosciutto
1/2 cup olive oil (extra virgin preferred. More if you prefer, up to 1 cup.
1 bunch beets with greens still attached
1 bunch mint
1/2 cup Parmesan or Parmesan/Romano mix
1# penne pasta (whole wheat adds nice flavor to this dish)
3T salt

1. Cut beets from beet greens.
2. Place beets in Pyrex dish and bake at 400 degrees until soft.
3. Allow beets to cool then peel skin from beets.
4. Cut beets into sticks the size of your pinky finger. Set aside.
5. Wash beet greens and chop coarsely.
6. Cut away all the fat (white) from the sliced prosciutto
7. Chop prosciutto meat (red) into thin ribbons. Set aside.
8. Chop and discard stems from mint then coarsely chop mint leaves.

9. Bring 4 qts of water to a boil. Add 3 T of salt with 1 pound of penne pasta. Stir until pot returns to a boil and then replace lid offset by a couple of inches to avoid overflow of starchy, boiling water. Should cook in approx. 10 - 12 minutes. Before draining pasta, reserve 2 cup of cooking liquid. Pour 1.5 cups of the boiling water into your serving dish. The remainder can be used if the final tossed pasta needs a little more creaminess.

10. While pasta is cooking, heat 1/4 c of oil over medium heat.
11. Add prosciutto fat until translucent then remove from the pan with slotted spoon. Set aside.
12. Add remaining oil and bring heat to medium high.
13. Add beet greens and stir in pan for a couple of minutes. Reduce heat to low and cover for 5 - 10 minutes.
14. Once greens are completely wilted and soft, add beets and stir in pan to mix and heat through.
15. Off heat, add chopped mint leaves and stir until wilted.
16. Dump hot water from serving dish.
17. Toss sauce with penne and grated cheese in warmed serving dish.
18. If pasta looks dry, toss pasta with some of the reserved cooking liquid.
19. Add 1/2 of prosciutto and toss gently with pasta. (I did not do this step in video)
20. Sprinkle remaining prosciutto across top of dish and serve.

Rib Roast Showdown

Rib Roast ready to be aged in refridgerator


Aged Rib Roast Roasted in Oven at 425 degrees to an internal temp of 130 degrees. Note the difference in size between the fresh, raw roast and the roast after aging and baking. All that concentrated beef flavor.

Remember, the beef in the video below was grilled over propane gas burners. I only had photos of roasts done earlier in the year. Sorry.