One Saturday afternoon I went to my local Italian shop
to get some Durham wheat and Semolina to make pasta. I said to my
friend, Jim, who owned the shop, that I wanted something different for
dinner. He suggested I use Pancetta as the base for my sauce. So right
there in the shop, we both came up with this recipe. It is one of the
BEST meat flavors in the world! Be sure to get the Deli to slice the
Pancetta real thick for you.
Preparation Time: 2 Hours Serving Size: 6
- 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided into 1 1/2 and
1 tablespoons
- 1 medium shallot, minced
- 16 ounces fresh cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
- 1/2 pound thickly sliced Pancetta, cubed (about (4)
1/4" slices)
- 28 ounces canned plum tomatoes (preferably in tomato
sauce)
|
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 8 ounces plain tomato sauce
- 1 sprig fresh basil, sliced into thin strips
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ounce Romano cheese, shredded (more for serving)
- 1 pound fresh fettuccine
|
|
| Click on picture for more
images.
|
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauté pan
over medium heat. Add shallot and sauté until soft, about 5
minutes. Add quartered mushrooms and lower heat to
medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms
have lost most of their moisture and have shrunk in size. Stir in the
wine, bring to heat and simmer 5 minutes. Carefully remove
to a large bowl and set aside.
Wipe out pan with a paper towel and
place back over medium-low heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil
and the cubed Pancetta. Cook slowly, stirring often, until
crisp, about 20 minutes. Use a spoon to remove all but 1
tablespoon of the flavorful rendered fat. Add mushroom
mixture to the pan and stir. Set the bowl aside.
If using whole tomatoes packed in water, drain the tomatoes through a
colander placed in the now empty mushroom bowl. Crush by
hand the tomatoes in the colander, collecting the water in
the bowl. Add to the mushrooms and pancetta along with half
of the reserved tomato water.
If your tomatoes are packed in tomato sauce, crush them
in the bowl collecting the tomato sauce too. Add the crushed
tomatoes and sauce to the mushrooms and pancetta.
Add the crushed red peppers. Stir well and bring to a
slight boil.
Immediately lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15
minutes. Add the tomato
sauce and stir. Bring back to heat and continue simmering
over medium-low heat, about 30 minutes more, adding reserved
tomato water (or water if using tomatoes packed in tomato
sauce) as necessary to avoid sauce from becoming too
thick. When the sauce has darkened a bit and reached desired
consistency, add the basil and black pepper. Cook 5 more
minutes. Turn heat off and add the cheese. Stir and let
stand 5 minutes. Serve over cooked fresh fettuccine.
|
|
