Foodie Friday: Pancetta & Tomato Pasta

It’s time for another Blog Summer Camp post. Today’s activity? Don the food blogger cap for a day and share a recipe!

I used to be a very nervous cook – I’d follow recipes to the last tablespoon for fear I would ruin whatever I was making. It’s only in the last five years or so that I’ve learned to be more freestyle with my cooking and to not be a slave to precise measurements.

Take for example, Team Zoll’s Tomato Sauce. We’ve never written the recipe down and it tastes different (and yummy) every time. Basically we know we throw in some canned whole tomatoes and some fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, onions and garlic cooked in olive oil. And there’s basil, but sometimes we don’t have fresh and we toss in a bunch of dried seasoning. Sometimes we throw in some merlot or pinot noir; other times we leave out the wine. The only thing we have committed to memory is the secret ingredient that makes our tomato sauce amazing every time, no matter what else we put in it.

Wait – you didn’t think I was going to give it up THAT easily, did you? Because if I did, we’d have to kill you. This is a Team Zoll trade secret™® ©.

So here is a recipe we’ve made on the fly in the last couple of months we’ve been quite pleased with. Measurements are best guesses, really and the directions are written for all you Sassy Domestic Goddesses out there.

Pasta with Pancetta and Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 3-4 oz of chopped pancetta, aka, Where Have You Been All My Life Italian Cured Meat
• 1 shallot. Sorry onions, you’ll have to sit this one out.
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• A whole mini tub of grape tomatoes or two generous handfuls of cherry tomatoes (See? no exact measurements here.)
• Pasta of your choice: I find penne or spaghetti work well, but I bet this would be tasty with some kind of tortellini or mini ravioli
• Fresh Parmesan cheese
• Some olive oil
• Fresh basil leaves if you have them

Directions

1. Get your water boiling and cook your pasta according to directions on package.
2. Chop your pancetta if you couldn’t find it pre-chopped.
3. Also on the chopping block: mince your shallot. (Yes, the whole damn thing. You gotta learn to love the shallot.) Slice, chop, or mince your garlic (whatever floats your boat). Slice your tomatoes in half.
4. Finely chop your fresh basil and set aside. Keep a couple of whole leaves for garnish.
5. Fire up a non-stick pan on medium to medium-high heat. Toss in that beautiful salty pancetta.
6. Pro-tip: Don’t throw your pancetta into a dutch oven that gets too hot. It will smoke like a bitch and it will take 20 minutes to shut off the damn smoke detectors.
7. Let the pancetta brown for a minute or two and toss in the garlic and shallot. Mix them up to coat them with all of that melting pancetta fat goodness. Hey, I never said this was healthy, did I?
8. After the shallots have begun to sweat, toss in your tomatoes. Cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until pancetta is cooked through.
9. About 1 min before you’re finished cooking, stir in the chopped fresh basil. Allow it to wilt and then pull it off the heat.
10. This is important: don’t overcook your pancetta/tomato mixture. All that delicious tomato juice will evaporate and you’ll have substantially less sauce than you think.
11. Toss your pasta in a weensy bit of olive oil to give it that omega 3 fatty acid sheen.
12. Top with delicious pancetta tomato goodness. Add Parmesan to taste and garnish with a basil leaf.
13. Pairs excellently with your favorite red wine or a zippy glass of sangria.
14. You’re welcome. 😀