Cream sauce with raw ham

Cream sauce with raw ham from Eggerhof, light and creamy

Cream sauce with raw ham from Eggerhof is the light cream sauce in the assortment, cooked from whole milk and cream, containing strips of prosciutto crudo and delicate leeks. White pepper provides the seasoning, while a little wheat flour gives the cream its velvety binding.

Cream sauce with raw ham is the mildest of the pasta sauces from Eggerhof South Tyrol in Aldein and the only one that gets its color from milk instead of tomato. From the 210-gram jar, it goes into a warm pan and is ready before the pasta is even drained.

Milk, leeks, and white pepper

Whole milk is the primary ingredient and sets the tone: milky and rounded, gentle, without the heaviness that pure cream sauces often bring. The cream is added in smaller quantities and rounds off the edges—that is its only role here.

The leek provides the green color and the mild, onion-like sweetness, which becomes soft upon heating and retains no sharpness. It is the reason why the jar, despite the meat and fat, feels fresh and does not sit heavily before the plate is empty.

White pepper seasons differently than black: earthier, warmer, and it remains invisible in the light base. Its aftertaste only emerges after a few bites and keeps the palate engaged.

On pasta, on gnocchi, under a gratin

Broad egg noodles take on the sauce best because the cream coats the surface evenly. The egg ribbon noodles from Eggerhof are therefore the obvious choice, and a few peas add some color to the light plate.

Gnocchi, boiled potatoes, or rice work just as well, and steamed vegetables like fennel, peas, or young kohlrabi turn it into a light dinner. A spoonful stirred into a potato gratin binds it in no time at all.

If you want to find the ham note in the noodle again, pair it with the asparagus ribbon noodles; the Eggerhof Sugo & Pasta Sauces collection brings together all the house's sauces.

A ham with two ingredients

Behind the raw ham on the ingredient list, there is only a short note in parentheses: pork leg and salt. So, two ingredients, plus months of time and dry air; that is all a prosciutto crudo needs for its flavor.

You can taste this as soon as the jar warms up. An air-dried ham contributes its fine, sweet, meaty flavor, which dissolves well in milk, whereas smoked meat would immediately dominate the light base.

Binding is provided by a classic roux, which has always been the base for every light sauce in mountain cuisine. The small amount of wheat flour makes the sauce velvety without making it heavy, and keeps it together while heating.

At Eggerhof, this creates an exception in a series that is otherwise defined by tomato and game. If you line up all the jars, you can identify this one by its color alone.

For the kitchen, this is more than a question of color. A light cream can be taken in any direction—with herbs, with lemon, with mushrooms—whereas a tomato sauce always brings its own direction with it.

Warm slowly, then add a little nutmeg

Warm the sauce over low heat and stir occasionally so that the milk does not stick. Freshly grated nutmeg lifts the cream; grated Parmesan makes it more savory. Unopened, the sauce stays good in the cupboard for many months; once opened, it will last a few days in the refrigerator.