Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Pancetta and Pasta


Okay, so here is a prime example where you just throw ingredients together and you suddenly have dinner. I usually don't use recipes for pasta dishes. A list of ingredients is all you need. The measurements are to taste, and also left to common sense.

Ingredients:

Pasta (I like penne or rigatoni)
Pancetta (slpurge and get the real thing at an import deli - I recommend Caputos)
Parmesan cheese
Heavy Cream
Butter
Dried Oregano
Garlic

Directions:

Cook the pasta until al dente. Nothing spoils a good pasta dish like overcooked pasta. While the pasta is boiling, cut your pancetta (ususally bought in a big inch-thick slice) into cubes. Fry pancetta until crisp. You may want to drain the grease half way through. While it crisps, mince your garlic. Melt butter into a small pot. When melted, add heavy cream and garlic, and let come to a strong simmer. Raise heat and bring to a rolling boil, but be sure to stir or you could burn the bottom. After it starts to boil, add the parmesan cheese and oregano and stir well. Turn heat down and let it come to a light simmer. This will help thicken the sauce.

After pasta is cooked, pancetta is crisp, and sauce has thickened (a little - it won't be THICK, but will thicken even more as it cools and when it mixes with the starch in the pasta.) Dish pasta into bowl, pour sauce over the top and sprinkle generously with pancetta.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

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