Jan 29

Jan 29 Artichoke, Pancetta and Tomato Pasta

We visited Rome at the end of last year. It was during the huge thunderstorms which hit Italy and we spent a week dodging lightning and heavy downpours whilst taking in the breath-taking sights.

The weather saw us holed up in quite a few small cafes and restaurants and there were a few flavours and ingredients which really stood out. Sweet tomato sauce, anchovies and deep fried artichokes. There was also a delightfully light carbonara, made with eggs not cream, and salty pancetta and thin crispy pizzas with sweet black olives and a deliciously tangy mozzarella.

Inspired by that week in Rome, this tasty dish uses the tomato sauce recipe I blogged about last week. The rich, sweet sauce, combined with the artichoke, olives and pancetta brings some of those flavours of Rome back to my Buckinghamshire kitchen.

Ready from scratch in 15 minutes, this is ideal for a weekday supper as we face our own winter storms at the end of January.

Method

Serves 4

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 10 mins

Boil the water for the pasta in a kettle and then pour into a saucepan. Add a large pinch of salt and bring to a fast boil. Add the pasta to water and cook according to packet instructions until it is still firm to the bite.

Whilst the pasta is cooking, halve the artichoke hearts so they are in bite size pieces and remove any excess oil with some kitchen towel. Heat the oil in a large, high sided, heavy bottomed frying pan and add the pancetta. Cook for 4 - 5 mins until it is crispy. You will get the best colour if you don’t move it around too much. Just stir in every now and again so it colours evenly.

When the bacon is cooked, remove the pan from the heat for 30 seconds to let it cool a bit. Add the tomato sauce to the frying pan. Take care here as the sauce can spit a bit when it is added to the pan. Stir in the tomato sauce and return the pan to the heat.

Add the artichokes and the olives to the sauce and simmer gently. Check and adjust the seasoning. Drain the pasta and add it to the frying pan, along with most of the parsley. Stir to combine all the ingredients and coat the pasta in the sauce.

Finally, add a squeeze of lemon juice to give a final lift to the sauce and gently stir through again.

Serve with the grated parmesan and a final sprinkle of parsley.

Ingredients

400g penne pasta

2 tsps olive oil

4 portions of my A Really Good Tomato Sauce

100g pancetta chopped into small pieces

10 anti-pasti artichoke hearts (from a jar)

16 pitted black olives

Squeeze of lemon juice

Tbsp of chopped flat leaf parsley

Salt and pepper