Penne with Bacon, Black Pepper, and Tomato
Bacon tomato pasta. Do three more comforting words exist in the English language? If you’re doubtful like me, you’re in luck! Get ready for the quickest, easiest, tastiest pasta recipe you’ll ever whip up - Penne with Bacon, Black Pepper, and Tomato.
Equipment
- 1 Stainless steel pan
- 1 Slotted spoon
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Large pot
- 1 Wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 100 g (3-4 oz) Lardons or bacon (cut into bite-sized strips)
- 400 g (14.5 oz) Tomato passata or canned tomatoes
- 200 g (7 oz) Penne pasta
- 1-2 tsp Freshly grated black pepper
- Pinch Salt
- Grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano to garnish
- Extra virgin olive oil optional
Instructions
- Fry the bacon. Add the bacon to a cold pan and bring it up to medium to medium-high heat. Cook until crispy. Depending on the thickness of your bacon, this could be anywhere from 2 to 7 minutes). (see notes)
- Pepper the bacon. When the bacon is about halfway cooked, liberally grate black pepper over the bacon until each piece or lardon is coated with flakes of pepper.
- Remove the bacon. When the bacon is crispy, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and place it in a nearby bowl. Drain excess fat if desired.
- Cook the tomato passata. Add the tomato passata to the same pan as the bacon and simmer over medium to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the pasta is finished cooking. The passata will reduce considerably. You’ll top it up with pasta water later.
- Boil the pasta. Immediately after adding the passata to the pan, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add a pinch of salt. Boil the pasta for 2 minutes less than the indicated al dente cooking time on the package.
- Reserve some pasta water. While the pasta is boiling, reserve a mug of pasta water. A little at a time, add some of the pasta water to the passata, stirring and agitating the sauce until it has a velvety consistency and coats the back of a spoon. (see notes)
- Strain the pasta and toss it in the sauce. Strain the pasta. Toss it in the sauce for 2 minutes to finish cooking the pasta al dente.
- Plate the pasta. Sprinkle the peppered bacon over the top of the plated pasta. Finish with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano.
Notes
* Adding the bacon to a cold pan will help render out, or melt, its fat, coating the pan in a natural cooking oil. Depending on the amount of fat rendered out, you may need to add a little cooking oil, such as extra virgin olive oil.
* You may or may not need to add all the reserved pasta water. Depending on how you like the consistency of your sauce, you can add more or less. Adding less pasta water will yield a thicker sauce while adding more will make it runnier. l usually add about 3 ladles of pasta water to mine.