Penne Amatriciana

I was very excited today, cause I had a parcel to pick up from the post office and I knew exactly what it was. A couple of things I have been wanting for ages. After I had bought my kitchen aid food processor the next things on my list were a dutch oven and a cast iron grill pan. I went with chassuer over creuset though, as creuset is twice as expensive and the only difference I can see is the lifetime warranty.

So here are my two latest kitchen additions!


And here is my helper in the kitchen! More like he just lies right in the middle of the kitchen.




So I had as my plan to cook a Penne Amatriciana for dinner and thought what better way to christen my new pot!

I love tomato based pastas and this one is so easy as it doesn't take too long to make the sauce at all and then you just mix all the cooked pasta through it.

First fry up some onion. You can use either brown or red, I had a red onion, so I used it.


Then add the garlic and the bacon (you can use either bacon or pancetta here)

Once the bacon has fried for a bit add the tomato paste and 2 tins of tomato and some chilli flakes

These are my favourite tins of tomatoes to use at the moment. They are from the wonderful place called aldi.


Then you simmer it for as long as you like. I like to add in about a tablespoon of sugar here too and some salt and pepper to taste, cause I like the sweetness.

Then you add in the cooked pasta and some fresh parsley. Serve with some grated parmesan.

Penne Amatriciana

1 Onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
200g Bacon, diced
1 Tbs Chilli Flakes
2 Tbs Tomato Paste
2 Tins Diced Tomatoes
Penne Pasta
Fresh Parsley

1. Add some olive oil to a pan and add the diced onion. Cook for a couple of minutes

2. Add the garlic, bacon and chilli flakes. Cook until the bacon is browning.

3. Add the Tomato paste and diced tomatoes and simmer for about 20 mins. Add sugar, salt and pepper to season. While this is cooking you can boil the pasta.

4. Drain the pasta and toss through the sauce. Add the parsley. Serve with some grated parmesan.

I usually serve mine with a simple salad of rocket and avocado.