Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange

Now that I'm further from the N/R line, I go to Eataly less frequently then I used to.  After some thinking (it shouldn't have taken me this long to figure out), I realized it's not that far of a walk from the 6 or my apartment in general if I want to get in a good jaunt.  This is good news because after a while without their fresh made pasta I crave it like crazy.  Want it need it gotta have it.  Since last week was feeling particularly long after two 4 day work weeks, I decided it would be the perfect hump day treat.

One benefit of fresh made pasta (besides the fact that it tastes amazing) is the cook time.  That stuff is done in just two to three minutes.  That means if your overall recipe is simple, you can be eating in less than ten minutes like I was.  Good, because when I want my fresh pasta, I want it NOW.  Me Hulk.  Me want pasta.  Once I decided on mandated fresh pasta for supper, I searched out a recipe that I could activate quickly.  I found this recipe from Epicurious to be ridiculously simple and easy to scale up/down.

One of the great things about Eataly is that everything is seasonal.  When I went looking for an orange, I didn't find the regular guys from Florida (now I'm picturing little oranges wearing jorts); I found a gorgeous blood orange.  Since i was making this meal for one and only using half the orange and zest, I was able to snack on the other half while I cooked - perk for the chef!  I thought the blood orange gave it a unique flavor that was not overly sweet or citrus-y, but the recipe would work just as well with a normal orange as it was originally intended.  I usually like prosciutto in it's true form, especially when it's nice and buttery; however, since there are few ingredients in this dish, it's nice that it crisps up in the pan a bit.  It really feels like a main protein this way instead of a supporting ingredient.  Yes, the sauce is cream based, but you're not putting in much.  This sauce is supposed to just lightly glaze the pasta, not kerplunk on there like an alfredo.

I absolutely loved this pasta and not just because it went from shopping bag to dinner plate in about 8 minutes.  It is the perfect transition dish from summer to fall with a sauce that alludes to cozy fireplace meals to come but a bit of orange peeking through to remind you that we're not quite there yet.