Pasta al Baffo

Pasta al Baffo (Creamy Tomato Ham Pasta) is a hearty pasta dish with ham and a silky c sauce made with tomato passata and cream. The sauce is a breeze to make, and it will be ready while the pasta is cooking making it a perfect weeknight pasta recipe.

Hello folks – how are you doing? I hope this week has been treating you well, and you are ready for the weekend!

Before we talk about today’s fabulicious recipe, let me ask you one thing. Don’t you think that three pasta recipes in a row is way too many? If you ask me, there is no such thing as too many pasta recipes. But I normally try alternating recipes on the blog, just for the sake of variety. However, it seems that the only edited photos from my unpublished archives I have, they all pasta recipes. And I am super lazy busy to go through and edit something else :)

So, let’s deal with one more pasta recipe, and during the weekend I will prepare photos for my next posts to have a little break from pasta!

Pasta al Baffo (Creamy Tomato Ham Pasta)

It is no secret that last year I tried many pasta recipes (which I had never heard of) from the blogs The Pasta Project – Authentic Pasta Recipes (the-pasta-project.com) and Memorie di Angelina – Easy authentic Italian recipes. I stumbled across Pasta al Baffo on the Pasta Project, although Frank has this recipe, too. It is not that I was not familiar with the combination of ham, tomato, and cream – it is more about learning an authentic way as well as a history behind recipes.

Interesting fact – this sauce is relatively modern – from the 1970s – 1980s, when pasta sauces with cream and tomatoes were trendy (just like pasta alla vodka.) The name “Al baffo” is an abbreviation of the expression “da leccarsi i baffi” meaning “so good you’ll lick your whiskers”. And Daisy (with her whiskers) and I (without) can both attest LOL.

Besides cooked ham, tomato sauce (passata), and cream, you will need shallots, olive oil, parsley, and salt & pepper. This recipe calls for heavy (whipping) cream, but lighter version (like ~18%) will do; however, you may need to simmer the sauce a few minutes longer to thicken it up. Other than that, it is super easy and quick to make!

More Authentic Pasta Recipes

Looking for more Italian pasta recipes? Please be sure to check some.

Pasta alla Pastora

Pasta alla Papalina

Ragù alla Bolognese

Pasta with Sardines

Sicilian Style Pasta with Cauliflower

Pasta alla Genovese

I hope you like this Pasta al Baffo, and you will make it a try.  If you make it, let me know in this post or send me an Instagram message or share your photos adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers!

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Pasta al Baffo

Recipe by Ben | Havocinthekitchen

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Pasta and GnocchiCuisine: Pasta and GnocchiDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4-5

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Pasta al Baffo (Creamy Tomato Ham Pasta) is a hearty pasta dish with ham and a silky c sauce made with tomato passata and cream.

Recipe adopted from the Pasta Project

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

• about 450 gr. tube-shaped pasta like penne or rigatoni

• 2-3 tablespoons (30-45 ml.) olive oil, preferably extra virgin

• 1-2 shallots, finely minced – or substitute 1 small onion

• 250 gr. cooked ham, cubed (I used lean ham)

• 1 cup (~250 gr.) tomato passata

• 1 cup (~240 ml.) heavy (whipping, 35%) cream – or use lighter version like 18%

• few parsley springs, chopped

• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

• Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it well.
• In a meantime, in a large pan / skillet sauté the shallots in olive oil over low-medium heat, until they are soft and translucent, few minutes.
• Increase the heat to medium / high-medium. Add the ham to the skillet and sauté until they begin to brown slightly around the edges.
• Stir in the tomato passata and let it simmer gently to allow the sauce to thicken, for about 10 minutes. Season with salt according to your taste.
• Add in the heavy cream and blend it with the tomato sauce. Simmer for an additional 4-5 minutes.
• While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta in boiling water, until al dente or even slightly less, as per package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and then drain.
• Add the drained pasta to the sauce along with a ladle (~1/2 cup) of the reserved pasta water. Increase the heat, and let the pasta simmer in the sauce for a couple of minutes, stirring continuously. If necessary, add a little more of pasta water (you will not the entire cup.)
• Stir in the parsley and serve immediately, sprinkled with some extra parsley if desired. Enjoy!