Feeding 7 Adults over LockDown - Pasta All’Amatriciana…

Or to you & I … Pasta with bacon, tomatoes & chilli ..

Pasta, tomato & Chilli …

I had no conception that I would suddenly finding myself with 7 adults in the house for 6 months over this dreadful Covid_19 LockDown, but that is the thing about life it never gives you the right amount of time to consider your options!

Six months of cooking & shopping for three meals a day, plus snacks for us 7 adults, really focused my mind & changed my life style to being back to a mum and wife, which was fun on some levels & for me tough on other levels. Baring in mind that I love to cook, I had no expectation at this time in my life with grown up young adults, almost! That I was going to be thrown back into the ring, & trust me there was no chance that I was going to get away with the odd meal of Turkey Dinosaurs or Fish Fingers & chips. They all know I can cook, we all like eating & I in these uncertain times I wanted to keep us all cheerful; cooking for me is love, & I want, no needed to please. Strange how these things affect the mind set!

However in short it was a big ask, like running a professional restaurant, that no-one ever leaves! I have owned a restaurant in the past, The General Hullabaloo, in Henley-on Thames, Oxon. Great fun & hard work but of course we had staff! And most particularly we had a ‘pot-washer’! So in LockDown on some days I just wanted a quick & easy option, no fuss, the least amount of expense & the smallest amount of washing up! This recipe fits the bill!

*Boiling a bowl of pasta shells or similar. Keep some of the pasta water back to use in the sauce.

*Depending on the amount of people you are cooking for, a couple of tins of tomatoes, I also like to use a carton or 2 of Passata, as well. Use what you have to hand.

*A few red onions, you can use Spanish, but I like the red, less sharp tasting. Chopped up any way you fancy.

*Bacon lardons or strips of bacon. Chorizo, which will add a stronger flavour, is really very good in this meal. Or a mixture of all three! You can even use sausage meat if you would like, this is LockDown food after all! So go with the flow.

*Chilli flakes or some bottled chilli. If you are going to make it ‘posh’ then you can chop & add real chilli’s.

*For the flavour & seasoning, depending on your taste. Add Salt & Pepper, Worcestershire sauce, a good dollop of Tomato Ketchup & of course Garlic, when it comes to garlic in this recipe you can use pre-cut in a jar, dried garlic or real garlic.

I am keen to slosh a bit of wine in the sauce, I would say left over wine but that never exists in this house! If you don’t have wine then a very small amount of sugar to taste.

Make it!

I am sure you can easily workout how to make this sauce, but just as a point of reference.

Once the pasta is al dente [In cooking, al dente /ælˈdɛnteɪ/ (Italian pronunciation: [al ˈdɛnte]) describes pasta or rice that is cooked to be firm to the bite. The etymology is Italian "to the tooth". In contemporary Italian cooking, the term identifies the ideal consistency for pasta and involves a brief cooking time]. Pour a glug of Olive Oil over the pasta and set aside.

Pan fry the bacon, in a big pan, I like to do it until the edges of the bacon just catches at the edges, once you have done this scrape the bacon onto a separate plate. DO NOT WASH THE PAN UP ALL THE BITS LEFT IN THE PAN IS YOUR FLAVOUR!!

Put the pan back on the hob & saute the onions until translucent, this is the time to add that wine to give the sauce some extra flavour. Add the tinned tomatoes & Passata. Add a small amount of the pasta water & cook the sauce down. Then add chilli, Worcestershire sauce, garlic & seasoning & continue to cook the sauce. Add the bacon to the sauce & continue to cook for a little longer. Then put a lid on the pan and switch of the hob heat & leave the sauce on the now turned off hob to cook down for a good while, until it has a shinny consistency/look.

Break up the pasta gently as it will have stuck together a little bit or Blanche & refresh the pasta with boiling water then mix in with the sauce. It is that simple.

MY TIP

You can of course heat up the sauce & pasta & eat it straight away, with some grated cheese. BUT if you want real flavour put the pasta & bacon sauce in an oven proof bowl, [I know that I said less washing up & this technically is another washing up stage… but.. Food is all about flavour] .. Let the pasta sauce cool completely. Put some tin foil over it and put it in the fridge overnight. This allows the flavour to melt into the food. Take the pasta out of the fridge some hours before you want to eat it & cook in the oven at 180 degrees with a foil cover, for 20 minutes or so. Remove the foil & continue to cook until the top of the sauce is bubbling.

SERVE WITH

Green Salad

Cheese

Chips

Crusty French Bread [Tip; rub a bit of cut garlic over the cut bread before you toast it, for extra flavour]

And as Nicole, my son’s beautiful Czech girlfriend will say before each meal….

“And so Enjoy”

PS…. ‘If you have any leftover, you can turn it into a Menemen - Turkish Omelette - Pour the leftovers into a hot pan & add either whole eggs which will poach in the sauce or scrambled eggs which will melt into the meal, sprinkle with sliced green peppers & serve as a snack, breakfast or light meal… Delicious