Prosciutto, Tomato, and Olive Spaghetti

Last night Brian said this is his new favorite spaghetti recipe. Well, unfortunately it's not mine but I still thought it was very tasty. It's a lighter sauce, pretty easy to whip up and would still be great without the prosciutto if you don't eat meat. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dry spaghetti
• 8 cups cold water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2 shallots, finely minced
• 1 cup black olives, pitted
• 3 to 4 tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• reserved pasta water (optional)
• 2.5 ounces parmesan cheese
• a handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Prosciutto, enough to slice and add to the pasta. I bought a quarter pound

Directions:

• In a large pot, bring water to a boil and cook the noodles
• Drain the cooked spaghetti, but save about 1 cup of the pasta water and set aside.
• Wipe clean the same pot and set over medium heat with the oil. When oil is hot, lower heat to medium low and saute the garlic and shallots until fragrant. 1-2 minutes
• Increase heat to medium again, add olives and cook for 1 minute
• Add the diced tomatoes and cook until soft, about 1-2 minutes
• Add the wine and stir until the alcohol has evaporated, about 2-3 minutes
• Stir in tomato paste and butter until dissolved
• Put the pasta back in the pot and gently mix until each strand is coated in the sauce. Add reserved pasta water if the sauce seems too dry. I ended up using about 1/2 of a cup. 
• Toss with parmesan cheese and sprinkle with chopped parsley
• Serve on plates with prosciutto garnish

I didn't follow this recipe exactly. I admit that I completely forgot to buy the olives so those were out the window. I also forgot to buy fresh tomatoes so I used canned diced tomatoes that I had on hand and drained some of the juice out. Despite those two changes it was still very tasty.