bucatini all’amatriciana

this weekend was full of work, work, work and more work.  sunday, while working, i was able to sit and ready the may 2010 issue of Food & Wine.  first off, the tacos on the front looked so amazingly delicious i almost ate the cover.  this issue has quite a few recipes that i want to try and this is one of them.

this came from the article “Chef Recipes Made Easy” and happens to be Mario Batali’s recipe (with one or two slight alterations).   i hope Mario doesn’t critique my recipe too hard.  the recipe suggested using a good jarred tomato sauce instead of making one, but i’m going to argue F&W on this one.  it’s not that hard to create a sauce from scratch.  don’t let them fool you!  all you need are a few quality ingredients (no Value Time, people) and some spices and you’re set.   i cheat the system and buy RedPak whole tomatoes in sauce instead of cooking down tomatoes and no one knows!  i’ll have a homemade pasta sauce post very soon.

• 1/2 pound thinly sliced pancetta, corasley chopped
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 12 oz. prepared tomato sauce (or your own!)
• kosher salt
• 1 pound bucatini*
• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
• grated pecorino romano cheese for serving

*bucatini is a thick pasta with a hole … kind of like a straw.  but my grocery store did NOT have bucatini.  it had pancetta but no bucatini!  anyway, i found something that was just as interesting – cavatelli.  about 3 inches long and rolled edges so it was the same effect.  moving on.

start to boil water for the pasta!

cook the pancetta over medium heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned.  transfer pancetta to a plate and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat in the skillet.  add onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper and cook until the onion is slightly browned.  return the pancetta to the pan.  add tomato sauce, salt, and simmer until thick; about 10 minutes.

while the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta until al dente and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

add pasta to the sauce along with parsley and reserved cooking water.  stir over medium-high heat until the pasta is evenly coated.    serve pasta with cheese on top.

this should quiet down my pasta craving that i’ve been having lately.  i recommend this dish if you want a great pasta meal but something a little bit different.  i will make this again.