Crispy Prosciutto Cooking

Crab linguine with crispy sage and prosciutto
Crispy prosciutto
In a frying pan, lay your slices of prosciutto ham and fry. You’ll find the ham releasing its own oil but use a spatula to flatten it, which helps it to release even more oil. Transfer the crispy prosciutto onto kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.

Crab linguini
1 tin of white crab meat in brine, drained and lightly rinsed
½ onion, sliced thinly into strips
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

The essential ingredients

1 large red chilli, finely chopped (deseed it if you don’t want it with a kick)
1/3 cup white wine (I used a sauvignon blanc)
180 grams linguine (or enough for 2)
1 small knob of butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
A generous pinch of salt
Juice of ½ lemon
The brand of linguine I use normally takes about 12 minutes to become al dente so once my pasta goes into the pot, I start on cooking the crab.

Only takes a few seconds to fry

In a saucepan, melt your butter and olive oil and on a low heat, sweat off the onions. I slow cook the onions to keep it from taking on much colour. It normally takes about 6-8 minutes before it turns translucent and starts browning just on the edges.
Add your garlic and turn up the heat a little. Fry off your garlic gently and then add the red chillies and keep frying gently for another minute or so.
Add the crab meat to the frypan but fry it gently, I like trying to keep the crab in bigger chunks.

Crab meat cooking gently in white wine and lemon juice

Add the white wine and then the lemon juice and sprinkle a generous pinch of salt. Season with more salt (but remember the prosciutto will also be salty) and some finely ground black pepper.
At this time once your pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and toss it into your crab sauce. Mix thoroughly.
To serve, place 1-2 slices of crispy prosciutto on top of your crab linguine. Place 4-5 fried sage leaves on top and drizzle 1 teaspoon of the sage oil over your pasta.
Serve with a glass of your favourite white wine.