Rigatoni with Prosciutto, Tomatoes, and Olives

Oh, this is decadent. I haven't made this one in months, and it's already a pretty squishy recipe since I made it up, so I probably would do a few things differently next time - less prosciutto, maybe more cherry tomatoes. In any case, it was a little salty this time, but it's delicious, so take it, mess around with it a little - I certainly do! It's that kind of meal.

(We also realized tonight, as we probably should have much earlier, that it's much cheaper to buy prosciutto custom-sliced at the deli than pre-packaged. Which is probably why I got a little over-excited about how cheap it was and added a tad too much. But hey, good news!)

3/4 lb rigatoni
2-3 tbsp (?) olive oil
1 or 1 1/2 tbsp butter, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 package (maybe 1 1/2?) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup or so thinly-sliced prosciutto, shredded (gosh...maybe even less. 3-4 slices?)
Pitted kalmata olives, however many you want
Red pepper flakes, to taste
1/4 cup pasta water

Start the water boiling for the rigatoni and cook until al dente. In the meantime, drizzle a little pool of olive oil in a pan and add half the butter, and heat over medium-high until butter melts. Add the garlic and stir it around for a bit, letting the flavors combine, and being careful not to burn the garlic. Turn the heat to medium. Next, add the halved tomatoes and do the same, letting them soften and soak up the butter. Sprinkle red pepper flakes to taste over the tomatoes (add earlier if you want it hotter, later if you don't). If the sauce starts to get a little dry, add the rest of the butter and let that melt and mix in, too. Add the prosciutto and turn down the heat a bit. Just before the pasta is done cooking, add however many kalmata olives you want. Again, if the sauce is dry, add 1/4 cup or so of pasta water before you drain it, and let that cook into the sauce.

(Note: it may be that the pasta takes longer to cook than the sauce, as it did for me tonight. If it seems like your sauce is going to overcook, you can just go through all the steps up to the pasta water, then turn the heat back on just to warm it up right as the pasta is finishing.)

Drain the pasta and add to the still-heated pan. Mix around so the sauce coats the rigatoni, and serve. Ignore the pug at your feet begging for prosciutto scraps.


LUNCH NOTE:
We planned ahead and bought a demi-baguette and some goat brie so that I could make a sandwich with the unused prosciutto the next day. Brie, prosciutto, bread - that's it. Perfect.