penne pasta with ricotta, pancetta and tomato sauce

So often our new experiments in the kitchen start with some ingredient we need to find a use for. And then the internet finds opportunities for us to try it out with or without modifications. This particular one did not have a convenient way to print the recipe for the kitchen exercise. It forced me to copy and paste part of the web page into a Word document, deleting all the extra crap. The ingredient motivating this investigation was higher quality ricotta from a sister-in-law weekend visit experiment with layered filo dough, some Middle Eastern savory dish. Bob's memory did not retain the details. Aging brain combining with natural absentmindedness for those kind of memories.

And had ani just bought some pancetta, which adds a minimal touch of meat flavor for pasta sauces like amatriciana that she has become expert at turning out. So key words for the search were "pasta ricotta pancetta" (without the quotes which freeze contiguous word order, search engine stuff). The top line  Google hits included the one that appealed immediately to bob.

We rarely buy penne since it is difficult for the sauce to find its way into that longish tube, BUT whenever we see mezzi penne, we are on it. Wegmans Italian Classics organic whole wheat penne is usually standard length as advertized but the current batch is clearly mislabeled. Whole wheat is a bonus, since very few pasta shapes come in whole wheat here in the US.

Ani followed the recipe pretty closely. bob was otherwise preoccupied and did not follow along as a minor sous chef. With low expectations for a mostly tomato sauce, the result was a pleasant surprise. Another success for the internet kitchen. What to do about our tall black Billy bookshelf filled with cookbooks?

ingredients

 1 lb (whole wheat!) penne pasta

1 c pancetta, cubed (100g)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 t oregano dried

1/4 c red wine

1/4 c ricotta, good quality

1/4 c crushed strained tomatoes, passata (250g if imported)

1/3 c reserved pasta water, plus 3-4 T if needed

1/4 c ricotta, good quality

1/2 c parmesan plus extra for seasoning

1 pinch salt and pepper, to season

instructions

1. Start with the boiling salted water thing for the pasta. I never know how much salt to add once the water is boiling. It probably matters. To someone somewhere. Cook the pasta according to the time on the box. Al dente please. Meanwhile:
2. Saute up the pancetta in a nonstick pot big enough to hold the pasta later. About 1-2 minutes until it starts to brown. If it doesn't leak enough fat, add half a teaspoon of olive oil. Judgement call here.
3. Add the garlic and oregano and cook 30 seconds or so, then dump in the reserved pasta water, cooking 3-4 minutes to reduce the liquid.
4. Turn off the heat and season with the salt and pepper, another judgement call.
5. Add the cheeses and mix with the tomato sauce until uniform.
6. Return the heat and the extra pasta water and the cooked pasta and coat all the penne well.
7. Remove from the heat.
8. Add an optional dollop of ricotta and some freshly ground pepper on the individual servings if desired.

notes

1.  From Inside the Rustic Kitchen, Penne Pasta with Ricotta  (Pancetta) and Tomato Sauce. 9 delicious step by step instructions.
2. Amatriciana pasta sauce is one of the four queens of Roman cuisine, including also carbonara, cacio e pepe, and grigio. Combining them all into one kitchen sink sauce is pasta alla zozzona. We've never had that latter. We let Italy provide us with the other three when we are in the boot.
3. Wegman's mislabled Italian classics whole wheat penne pasta. Usually they are regular penne but at the moment, the stock is mezzi'd. Lucky us.
4. Mostly this is just an amusing pasttime for bob, cranking out a little creativity every now which is okay, no? Anyone out there actually reading this stuff?
5. Illustrations available.