We may have a new favorite pasta dish in my house! I have already made this dish a couple of times. We didn’t even miss the garlic. 😉 It is an incredible version of the classic- a perfect weeknight dish.
The recipe was adapted from a Food and Wine “staff favorite” recipe, inspired by sommelier Arjav Ezekiel, co-owner of Birdie’s in Austin, contributed by Anna Theoktisto. We ate it with our favorite garlic bread and green salad, of course.
Yield: Serves 4 to 5
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 medium or large yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 (4 oz) package chopped pancetta
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 (28 oz) can whole plum tomatoes (I used San Marzano)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pound uncooked rigatoni pasta
- 1 1/2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely shredded (about 2/3 cup), plus more for serving
- 3/4 ounces pecorino Romano cheese, finely shredded (about 1/4 cup), plus more for serving
- 2 T unsalted butter
- finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
- Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium. (I used a large enameled cast iron pan.)
- Add onion, and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes.
- Stir in pancetta; cook, stirring often, until pancetta begins to render, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in crushed red pepper.
- Using your hands or a wooden spoon, crush tomatoes; add tomatoes and their juices to skillet. Bring to a boil over medium; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring often, until flavors meld and mixture thickens, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in salt. Remove from heat.
- While sauce cooks, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high. Add rigatoni, and cook according to package instructions for al dente, about 13 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.
- Add rigatoni, 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pecorino Romano, and butter to sauce in skillet.
- Cook over medium, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and coats pasta, about 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat, and garnish with parsley. Serve with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano and pecorino Romano cheeses, as desired.
thebrookcook 