Penne Amatriciana

Penne Amatriciana

If Pasta and Italy are synonymous to you, to me Italy is Synonymous to one of my best friends, a friend who bailed me out though my boss's bad temper days, a friend who wrote half of my project for me, because I was too busy eating the Penne Amatriciana she cooked for her dinner !! Well yes. My friend Anna, used to cook this dish at least thrice a week and I used to clean her plate 2 out of 3 times. She cooked extremely well and I picked up pretty fast. So this dish tonight is in remembrance of sweet Anna, who is thousands of miles away from me.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Cooking Time      :  45 minutes
Difficulty              :  Easy
Serves                  :  4

Ingredients :

• 400 grams pack of Penne, cooked according to the pack's direction.
• 150 grams of Bacon
• 1 sweet Onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
• 1 cup White Wine, Chardonnay preferably, or use any White Wine
• 2 cup Chicken Stock / broth (you can make fresh or even use stock cubes in warm water)
• 1 Large Fresh Tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan, or Romano Cheese
• Salt, to taste and last but not the least,
• Cornstarch Slurry! (mixture of cornstarch and water, until a half and half consistency)

Method :

  1) I am assuming you have cooked pasta before? :) If not please do! You can make this in a larger pot, then add the pasta directly to it! Add plenty of water and when it's cooked Al Dante, pour on a large sieve and drain well.

 2 ) I cook the bacon in the oven on a baking sheet for 2 reasons. (1)to preserve the fat and (2) to use the caramelised bacon fond for the sauce!

 

 3) Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay out your bacon on a cookie pan, then toss it on in. You can also lay them flat on a baking try lined with parchment. I want it to be crispy, so it will take about 12-14 minutes.

 

 Crispy Bacon

 

 4) When it is done, take it out of the oven, put the bacon aside on a plate, and pour that tasty, tasty bacon grease into the pan you will be cooking the sauce in.

 

 5) If you don't want to do that,  you can use a tablespoon of vegetable oil.

 

 6) But, I still want to deglaze the pan. So after I get the bacon fat off of the pan, I pour a cup of the chicken broth on the hot pan, and scrape all that caramel goodness off.  And set it aside.

 7) Start sweating your onions and garlic on the stove , till they start to caramelise.

 

 8) Deglaze with your white wine, then add the rest of the chicken broth, plus the bacon-infused chicken broth that was in the bacon pan.

 

 9) Bring it to a simmer, and taste. adjust your seasoning at this point.

 10) Once it is done, go ahead and add about 1/4 cup of slurry, whisk rapidly, and instant thickens. I always want it to be thick enough to coat the pasta, so I make sure it at least coats the back of the spoon. And then let it simmer for about 2 more minutes.

 11) Now add the pasta, and stir it in, making sure you heat it up properly.

 

 12) Now add your fresh tomatoes, grated cheese, and stir it really well.

 

 13) Plate the pasta and add the crispy Bacon to it and serve hot. You can also add a little more cheese on it, in case you want to load up your calorie count further.