Cantaloupe and Pancetta Cream Sauce for Pasta

One thing I have loved about summer ever since I can remember is cantaloupe. When the recipe for Cantaloupe and Pancetta Cream Sauce for Pasta showed up on Facebook I started counting down work days till I would have enough time to make it. One bite in and I immediately wanted to make more. My wife commented that it could immediately go into rotation and that I'd better not lose the recipe. While there may be a huge pot full of it on the stove, it won't be enough! How have I lived so long, loved cantaloupe so much, and never come across this? It is indeed a delicious discovery that you should make ASAP!

   
Pancetta is fairly expensive in Bozeman and my preferred grocery store doesn't carry it, so I used ham instead. Pancetta and ham come from the same cut of the pig. They are not treated the same, but the ham was a tasty substitute.

I decided to turn the whole night into a cantaloupe night. I made some grilled shrimp with cantaloupe lime salsa from Steamy Kitchen that I had been saving and waiting to make for a while. The closest I can compare it to is mango salsa, but it still isn't close. Cantaloupe salsa is a garnish, not a chip-dipping salsa, but very delicious. We felt that it would probably be better served with cocktail shrimp in it instead of grilled shrimp with it.