One of my all time favorite recipes is by one of my all time favorite – and oldest – friends. The thing is I was making Evan Kleiman’s Tomato, Pancetta and Mascarpone Pasta before I even met Evan, over 20 years ago. Like a lot of other American’s cooking Italian food in the 1980’s I had a copy of Evan’s Pasta Fresca next to my Marcella Hazan. The fact that it is now faded and falling apart shows the love. Her easy to follow, straightforward and authentic recipes have become standards.
But the all time family favorite is her Salsa Cremosa di Mascarpone e Pancetta Affumicata (Creamy Sauce with Bacon ) or, as we call it, “That Evan pasta with the mascarpone”. When the kids were little and we would spend the entire summer up in Umbria, this was the go to pasta since I knew that it would be gobbled up by both adults AND kids. Over the years I made a few tweaks, and substituted regular pancetta or guanciale for her smoked version. I also always used short pasta – preferably wagon wheels or bowtie – instead of fresh fettuccine.
With the ‘kids’ back home for two weeks, it was of course at the top of their request list. And since so many people asked for the recipe I thought I’d share my version of it here. And apologies for the mediocre photos. I wasn’t planning on sharing them! This is just family dinner. 😉
Tomato, Pancetta and Marscarpone Pasta
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 4-5
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 pound / 150 grams pancetta or guanciale, cubed
- 3 cups tomato puree
- 1 pound / 500 grams pasta (I like wagon wheel or farfalle)
- 8 ounces / 250 grams mascarpone
- Basil (about 1/2 cup leaves)
- Grated parmigiano
Instructions
In a large saute pan cook the onion in the olive oil over low heat with salt and pepper. Cook until soft, but not browned. Add the chopped pancetta and let it cook over medium heat until it color, but you don’t want it to become crisp or browned.
Add the tomatoes and cook until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and add to the saute pan with the sauce and toss over very low heat. Turn off the heat and add the mascarpone, and stir to combine until the cheese melts and the sauce turns orange. Add the basil and serve with grated parmigiano on the table.
You can find out more about Evan Kleiman here. And if you’d like to join Evan and me in Italy we usually do at least one tour together each year. Our next one is in June, in Abruzzo. I’m sure I’ll be adding more. You can find the full schedule of tours here, and make sure you are signed up for the Premium version of my newsletter since I always announce new tours there first (they sell out fast)
Hello, is there really only tomato purée in the recipe? How much does 3 cups of it weigh?
I’m not sure how much it weighs, sorry. I used about one and a half bottles.
A 28oz / 794g can of puree or blended whole, peeled tomatoes is about 3 1/4 cups.
Made this last weekend, you are right it is very good with these simple ingredients.Thanks Elizabeth!