Pasta Panna e Prosciutto

Italian everyday pasta with cooking cream, cooked ham, and onion. A quick weeknight dish using fridge and pantry staples. Ready in 20 minutes. Fully costed.

Serves: 4Prep: 5 minCook: 15 minTotal: 20 minDifficulty: EasyCuisine: Italian
→ Calculate ingredient cost for this recipePrices are editorial estimates (Q1 2025). Confidence rating shown after calculation.

Pasta Panna e Prosciutto

Pasta panna e prosciutto is Italian weeknight cooking at its most direct: cream sauce, cooked ham, onion, pasta. Twenty minutes total. The dish uses prosciutto cotto — cooked ham — not prosciutto crudo (cured ham). This distinction matters: the mild, yielding texture of cooked ham integrates into the cream sauce. Cured ham does not.

Ingredients (4 servings)

  • 320g dry pasta (rigatoni, penne, or farfalle)
  • 200ml panna da cucina (long-life cooking cream, 23–25% fat)
  • 100g prosciutto cotto, sliced or diced
  • 80g yellow onion (half a medium onion), finely diced

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta to package instructions. Reserve 50ml of pasta water before draining.

2. Build the sauce While the pasta cooks, heat a wide pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion with a thin film of oil or butter. Cook 5–6 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the diced prosciutto cotto. Cook 2 minutes until heated through.

3. Add cream Reduce heat to low. Pour in the panna da cucina. Stir to combine with the ham and onion. Heat gently for 2–3 minutes — do not boil. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Combine Drain the pasta and add directly to the sauce pan. Toss over low heat for 60 seconds, adding pasta water as needed to loosen. The sauce should coat each piece of pasta without pooling.

5. Serve Serve immediately. Optional: grated Parmigiano at the table.

Notes

Panna da cucina (23–25% fat) is the correct cream for this recipe. Fresh whipping cream (35%+) produces a heavier result. The UHT carton format is shelf-stable, costs approximately €0.80, and is the standard in Italian home cooking.

Do not over-reduce the cream — it should remain fluid and coating, not clumped. If the sauce seizes, add pasta water and toss off heat.

Cost Context

At Italian supermarket prices (Q1 2025), total ingredient cost for 4 servings is approximately €3.25 — roughly €0.81 per serving. Prosciutto cotto (€1.80 for 100g) is the dominant cost at approximately 55% of total. Panna (€0.80 for 200ml) is the second-largest contributor. The onion and pasta together cost under €0.65.

Use the Recipe Cost Calculator to see the full itemised breakdown.