Rigatoni Alla Matriciana for Presto Pasta Nights!

I wish we could take a trip. We do have some cool bike trips planned....but sometimes you dream of visiting another country and experiencing the culinary delights of their culture first-hand. Between cash flow and the ever increasing intrusions and inconveniences of TSA ....I'll be traveling through books and cooking. For awhile anyway.

Back in December I wrote about the book Cooking in Paradise and culinary vacations such as Laura’s World in a Pan. That post may be found HERE

One of the pages I copied from the aforementioned book describes a “Culinary Adventure in Amalfi at the Hotel Luna Convento” and the following recipe. We thought we’d give this one a try.



Rigatoni Alla Matriciana

3 TB olive oil
1 medium white onion, chopped
5 oz. bacon or pancetta, cut into strips
Red chili pepper
12 oz. fresh or canned plum tomatoes, crushed
Bay leaf
Chopped parsley
½ cup white wine
1 pound rigatoni
2 TB Parmesan or pecorino cheese

Saute onions slowly in olive oil and a little salt – about 10 minutes. Add bacon or pancetta and sauté another 10 minutes.



Add white wine and simmer until evaporated. Add the chili pepper, tomatoes, bay leaf and parsley. Simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how thick you want the sauce.



Cook the pasta, drain and place in a serving dish. Pour hot sauce over pasta.



Season with grated Parmesan or pecorino and serve immediately.





Serve with crusty bread....



You can make this sauce in large batches and freeze for later use. One thing I would do differently next time is use a linguine or angel hair pasta rather than the fat rigatoni. Just personal preference.

As I mentioned in my December post, this book is a few years old and so this particular gastronomic holiday may no longer be available.

I am sending this to Presto Pasta Nights. Our host for Presto pasta Nights this week is Debi at Debbi Does Dinner



Look...always begging while I'm cooking.........



I think a culinary vacation would be a blast. If anyone has ever been on one I'd appreciate it if you'd drop me a line and let me know what you thought!