Recipe: Pancetta Pasta

I have to say, my style of cooking does not usually take the art of editing into account. I can’t remember the last time I cooked something with less than 10 ingredients, and my M.O. is usually to keep tossing stuff in until it tastes good. I’ve never been one to appreciate the “less is more” philosophy, and I am sharing this recipe because it was the first recipe I’ve come across that really is all about the magic that can happen when you use simple, QUALITY ingredients.

I am lucky enough to have a dear friend who is married to an Italian. A real Italian. Holly met Daniele in Italy, brought him over (along with a suitcase full of pastas, meats and cheeses) and we have been trying to teach him English ever since. In exchange, he has enlightened us to the beauty of real Italian cooking.

This past Labor Day, we spent a weekend at the beach with our friends, and the men engaged in a cook off of sorts. My husband cooked one night, Daniele the next. When he told us he was making pasta, I took a look at the ingredients and was a bit disappointed – what could he possibly do with some pancetta, an onion, a bag of spaghetti, some plain white vinegar, and a can of tomatoes? What resulted from his time in the kitchen was simply one of the best homemade dishes I have had to date. As we dug into our second plate, he explained how it was the quality of the ingredients that made the dish. Although Daniele is from Napoli, he claims this is actually a staple Roman dish.

My husband and I have since made this easy dish about 10 times, and if you are coming to dinner at our house, you can pretty much bank on having the pancetta pasta. All the ingredients can be found at Fresh Market, and not surprisingly, they are all made in Italy. We’ve tried using Harris Teeter run of the mill ingredients and the result is a completely different, sub-par dish, so you must use the ingredients I’ve provided. I serve with a nice tomato, mozzarella and basil salad and some crusty bread for sopping up this simple but succulent sauce. Here is the recipe:

PANCETTA PASTA

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small white onion (or ½ a larger one)
• 2 4 oz packages of Fiorucci Pancetta
• 1 package Rustichella d’abruzzo spaghetti
• 1 28 oz can of San Marzano Diced Tomatoes with juices (pomidori cubetti – sounds much nicer!)
• 1 28 oz can of San Marzano Whole Peeled Tomatoes with juices (pomidori pelati)
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

Roughly chop the onion, sauté in olive oil until starting to sweat.

Slice the pancetta into small pieces, add to the onions, season with salt and pepper.

Once the pancetta appears cooked through about 10 minutes), add the 2 cans of tomatoes, including the juices. Break the whole tomatoes into 2-3 pieces to let those juices out. Bring to a gentle boil, then cover and simmer. The longer it cooks, the tastier it is. I usually cook for 20-30 minutes.

Add vinegar, stir through and cook another 5-10 minutes.

Boil pasta for 10 minutes in HEAVILY salted water. When you think you have put enough salt, keep salting. Daniele explained this is the key to the best pasta.

Drizzle olive oil over the pasta, top with the sauce and serve! Garnish with a freshly grated parmesan romano, and your guests will be asking for seconds.

Buon Appetito!!

~Elena