I get this question fairly often: when you spend much of the day working on recipes and talking about food, don’t you eventually get tired of thinking about what to cook?
The answer is yes.
There are evenings when the last thing I want to do is research a recipe, measure twelve ingredients, or spend an hour standing over the stove. That’s when I fall back on a handful of things I can make almost without thinking.
This is one of them.
Bacon, onion or green onion, garlic, pasta, a splash of Marsala and plenty of Parmesan. Nothing particularly sophisticated. Just a bowl of pasta that’s salty, savory, slightly sweet from the onions and Marsala, and ridiculously comforting.
Apparently, I Didn’t Invent This:
I had always thought of this as one of my made-up dinners—something I threw together from ingredients that are almost always in my kitchen.
Then I started researching it, which is what happens when you spend too much of your life thinking about food.
As it turns out, while I haven’t found an exact Italian recipe for “my” pasta, the idea behind it is thoroughly Italian. In Abruzzo, there are traditional fettuccine dishes dressed simply with pancetta, onion and pecorino. Elsewhere in Italy, pancetta, fresh onions, garlic and Parmesan turn up together in the sort of uncomplicated home cooking that inspired this dish.
My splash of Marsala appears to be my own contribution, so I’m going to claim that part.
Looking for some other Italian recipes?
Italian Lemon Pasta with Pancetta (Pasta al Limone con Pancetta)
Italian Sausage and Roasted Pepper Sauce
Pasta alla Norcina: Authentic Creamy Sausage Pasta from Umbria
Easy Cacio e Pepe Recipe: Pure Italian Comfort Food
Tagliolini al Sugo d’Arrosto — Pasta with Italian Roast Gravy
Authentic Sunday Sauce: A Step by Step To Create A Family Tradition
Classic Ragu Bolognese Sauce Recipe: Slow and Delicious
Rigatoni with Roasted Eggplant and Walnuts
And of course, My Favorite Recipes
Ingredients:
1 lb Pasta, I’ve used rigatoni, penne and even spaghetti. Use whatever you have on hand.
1/4 lb smoked Bacon or Pancetta
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Onion, chopped
3-4 cloves Garlic, smashed and roughly chopped.
2 tsp Chili Flakes, optional if you don’t want it spicy.
1/4 cup Marsala Wine
1/2 cup Parmesan and Pecorino Romano Cheese
Preparation:
In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil and cook the bacon or pancetta over medium heat until it begins to render its fat and brown around the edges. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently until the onion is soft and beginning to turn golden. Add the chili flakes, if using, then pour in the Marsala. Let it bubble for a minute or two, scraping up anything browned on the bottom of the pan.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in well-salted water until just al dente. Before draining, reserve about a half a cup of the pasta cooking water.
Add the drained pasta directly to the pan and toss everything together, adding a splash of pasta water as needed. Keep tossing until the rendered bacon fat, Marsala and pasta water come together and lightly coat the pasta. Remove from the heat, add the cheese and toss again. Add another splash of pasta water if it seems dry, then serve with more cheese at the table.
The Pasta I Make When I Don’t Feel Like Cooking
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil and cook the bacon or pancetta over medium heat until it begins to render its fat and brown around the edges. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently until the onion is soft and beginning to turn golden. Add the chili flakes, if using, then pour in the Marsala. Let it bubble for a minute or two, scraping up anything browned on the bottom of the pan.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in well-salted water until just al dente. Before draining, reserve about a half a cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Add the drained pasta directly to the pan and toss everything together, adding a splash of pasta water as needed. Keep tossing until the rendered bacon fat, Marsala and pasta water come together and lightly coat the pasta.
- Remove from the heat, add the cheese and toss again. Add another splash of pasta water if it seems dry, then serve with more cheese at the table.