Wednesday, February 17, 2010

FNCCC - Mario Batali

He was less than enthused when he read the recipe I'd picked from Mario Batali for the FNCCC.

"There's no sauce!"

Scott is an easygoing guy and is normally fine with whatever I want to cook. But he was not happy about this no sauce thing. But I knew he'd love it once he tasted it. He loves onions, he loves cheese. He loves pancetta. It would be ok.


And it was more than ok. This pasta is terrific, absolutely wonderful. I love it because it's simple and delicious. So few ingredients make huge flavors.

I scaled down the recipe - original is here so I would have little, if any leftovers.
But I had to up the amount of onion and garlic because the amounts in the original seemed too small.

Spaghetti with Garlic, Onion and Pancetta

1 tablespoon plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
pinch dried chile pepper flakes
100 grams pancetta, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 pound spaghetti
parmesan cheese

In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat. Add the pepper flakes and pancetta and cook until crisp. Remove the pancetta to a plate. Add the remaining oil, onion and garlic and cook gently until golden brown.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until tender yet al dente. Drain the pasta and add to the saute pan with the onions. Add some cheese, toss to combine, then toss in the pancetta. Serve with extra cheese if desired.

Please visit I Blame My Mother to see more Mario recipes this week.

3 comments:

Jenna @ Newlyweds said...

That does sound and look delicious. Glad hubby liked it, I always love when that happens.

Sara said...

Thanks Jenna!

Gina said...

That looks great! I made something similar recently but will try this one too!