Nothing says fall like the fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season this time of year. A few weeks ago we took the kids to an apple orchard in Wilcox, AZ for a day of fun picking fresh fruits.

After our adventure, we had plenty of apples on hand, which meant plenty of recipes to try.

I decided to make Pasta Trentino.

The sauce is basically an apple-tomato ragu sauce over a favorite pasta. It’s so delicious and easy to prepare, I make this recipe very often whenever I have extra apples that need to be used.

This recipe is named after the Trentino region of Italy known for their wonderful apple orchards.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 package Mezzi Rigatoni pasta

1 can (12 ounces) San Marzzano crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup olive oil

2 shallots, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

4 celery stalks, finely sliced

5 medium crispy apples skinned and diced

3/4 cup vegetable broth or water

2 Teaspoons fennel seeds

2 tablespoon dry basil

1/2 cup shredded Romano or parmesan cheese

1 bunch of fresh basil chopped

6 slices of prosciutto*

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to pkg directions, drain and set aside.
2. In the same pot used to cook the pasta cook the prosciutto slices until golden brown and crispy, remove prosciutto and set them on a paper towel to dry then crumble them.
3. Heat the olive oil in the same pot where prosciutto and pasta were cooked and saute celery, shallots, garlic and apples until apples and celery are soft stirring frequently to prevent garlic and shallots from burning.
4. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and vegetable broth or water. Season with salt and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil.
5. Use a hand blender or regular blender to smooth the sauce, add Romano cheese, fennel seeds and dried basil. Let it cook over low heat for a few minutes until bubbly to allow spices to release flavors.
6. Add pasta, folding gently with the sauce.
7. Transfer pasta to a serving platter and garnish with crumbled prosciutto and fresh basil.

Serve with your favorite salad and a good wine. Bom apetite!

* Prosciutto is Italian bacon it is not smoked, you may use regular bacon or even turkey bacon instead.