Last week I posted my recipe for homemade pasta, one of my all-time favorite things to make! It inspired me to share a totally new pasta dish to go along with it. This is a tomato-based sauce with a hint of spice featuring lots of pancetta! Pancetta is Italian and made of pork belly meat that is salt cured. It is commonly added to pasta, soups or served alone as part of a charcuterie board. It's freaking delicious.
Other pancetta notes:
- You'll typically find it in the deli area of your grocery store where you'll find proscuitto and specialty cheeses.
- If you're unable to find it, you can use bacon in this recipe instead. Bacon also is made of pork belly meat, however it has a much smokier flavor. I prefer pancetta in this recipe, but bacon also works.
- You can eat it raw, so feel free to try it as you throw it into your sauce! But be careful or you'll eat half the package and won't have enough for your pasta! 😉
For this recipe you'll also need some olive oil, yellow onion (shallot also works), garlic, crushed tomatoes, dry red wine, half & half, parsley, salt, pepper and noodles of your choice! I like the homemade version way more (linking below), but store bought works fine for this recipe as well.
*Note: make sure to use a wine you actually like to drink. It heavily influences the flavor of the sauce.
Start by heading a medium-large pan or deep skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and warm. Add pancetta and cook for 3-5 minutes.
Add onion and saute a few more minutes.
Add garlic and cook one more minute. Then add red pepper flakes and cook a couple more. Omit red pepper flakes if you'd prefer no heat.
Pour in wine. It'll start to sizzle and boil. Stir and turn down heat. Simmer until reduced by half.
Add crushed red tomatoes. Stir well to incorporate. Turn heat up and bring to boil. Stir in salt and pepper. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Meanwhile prepare pasta.
Stir in half & half and fresh parsley. Stir and cook a few more minutes. Adjust salt/pepper/red pepper flakes as desired.
Toss pasta with sauce and plate up!
Don't forget fresh Parm!
Enjoy! I like to pair this with a Cabernet, red blend or spicy Tempranillo.
You might also like:
https://www.cuisineandcocktails.com/handmade-gnocchi-with-bolognese-sauce/
- 4 oz Pancetta, cubed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion or shallot, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 1 28-oz can crushed red tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- ⅓ cup half & half
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- pasta of choice (recipe for easy homemade linked in post)
- Parmesan (optional) for topping
- Heat olive oil in large pan or deep skillet over medium heat.
- Add pancetta and cook 3-5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add onion and saute 2-3 minutes.
- Add garlic and saute 1 more minute.
- Add red pepper flakes and cook a couple more.
- Pour in red wine and stir. Turn down heat slightly and cook a few minutes until reduced by half.
- Pour in tomatoes and turn up heat to bring to boil.
- Stir in salt and pepper.
- Cover, reduce heat down to simmer and cook 15 minutes.
- Prepare pasta.
- Stir half and half and parsley into sauce. Cook a few more minutes.
- Adjust salt/pepper/red pepper flakes.
- Drain pasta. Toss with sauce.
- Top with fresh Parm.
[…] Pancetta Tomato Pasta […]