Penne all’Arrabbiata
with Smoked Pancetta and Fresh Basil
Food is described with an infinite number of adjectives but ‘angry’ is not one that immediately springs to mind. That’s unless we’re talking in Italian. This little dish is ‘Arrabbiata’ because of its chilli kick, but we’ll leave it to you to decide how much of a temper you want it to have. Given that this tasty recipe can be ready in the time it takes to boil your pasta, there’s really nothing angry about it. So smile and tuck in!
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
Ingredients
1
Red Pepper
2
Garlic Clove
½
Basil
2
British Smoked Bacon Lardons
1
Chopped Tomatoes
½
Chilli Powder
200
Wheat Penne Pasta
(Contains Cereals containing gluten)
2
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains Milk)
Nutritional information
Utensils
Instructions
Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees. Remove the core from your pepper and slice lengthways into ½ cm strips. Mix the peppers with a pinch of salt and pepper and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Place on a baking tray in the oven for 15 mins.
Boil a large pot of water. Place the flat side of a large knife on your cloves of garlic and press down firmly. Peel off the skin and finely chop the garlic. Tear the basil leaves into small pieces (tearing them releases more flavour than chopping).
Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in a nonstick frying pan on medium heat. Fry off the pancetta until it is crispy around the edges.
Add in the chopped garlic and cook together for 2 mins. Tip: Avoid overcooking the garlic as you don’t want it to taste bitter.
Add in the tinned tomatoes with your chilli powder (add more or less to taste). Add a good pinch of saltand pepper. Cook on medium heat for around 10 mins, until you have a nice thick sauce.
Cook your pasta in the boiling water with 1/4 tsp of salt for around 6 mins. Tip: The pasta is cooked when it is ‘al dente’ (i.e. it is cooked but has a slight firmness left in the middle).
Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and then stir it into your thickened tomato sauce. Once your peppers are nice and soft, add them to the sauce too.
Scatter your basil leaves over your pasta. Grate your parmesan over the top and dig in! Tip: Best eaten with a fork, in a reclined position, on the sofa.
